Bonds of Faith
by smileaway96
Summary: Sonic and his Mobian friends have found themselves on Earth after a horrible conversion of the Master Emerald and an explosion of Chaos Energy. A hospitable family have provided shelter and food for them as Sonic puzzles on how to find a way home. What happens when a powerful and nationalistic dictator begins his reign against the Mobians? Review, please! :)
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: I've been throwing this idea around for a while now. I hope it turns out as well as I though it would be. Something to keep in mind: I wrote this story with the assumption that the events of "Sonic X" never occurred. I'll give you the honest truth-I can't say that this was based off of "Sonic X", and I can't say that it wasn't. After all, I sort of based this on a dream that I had, and if my subconscious was thinking of "Sonic X", then yes, it was. Well, anyway, enjoy, and please review! :)**

**P.S.-ShinyShiny9, this dream I had was a few days after the conversation we had about the dream-derived ideas. O_o Crazy how things work out. Anyway, I thought of you after thinking that this should be a story. ^_^ Hope you like it!**

* * *

The explosion was deafening. Sonic clutched Tails and Knuckles by their hands. Amy and Cream were hugging in a desperate attempt to stay together. Shadow's deep and furious voice rang out among the noise.

"_Chaos Spear! Chaos Control!_"

Nothing was working. The Chaos Emeralds motionlessly hovered in the air, creating a field of Chaos Energy and growing more powerful. The Mobians abandoned all hope of controlling them. Except for Shadow.

"We must try!" he screamed to the Mobians on the ground.

"The Master Emerald has developed an evil mind of its own!" Knuckles yelled in response, "there's no possible way we can control such a powerful force!"

Shadow cried out in rage. A wave of energy pulsed through the air, knocking everyone to the ground. The girls, Amy and Cream, sobbed in terror. Sonic, though he couldn't stand Amy, looked over to where they stood and gritted his teeth. He never would have thought that he would have to see them in such pain. Knuckles and Tails weren't hugging like the girls were, but instead they held on to each others arms while trying not to be blown away from the force of the energy pulses. Sonic's eyes began to water. These things might be the last he ever witnessed.

Another pulse of energy thundered through the air. Everyone yelled or cried out. The pulses were becoming more forceful and began to cause physical pain.

"Sonic, what do we do?" Knuckles screamed. Sonic squeezed his eyes shut.

"I . . . I don't know!" he yelled in helpless response. He looked at everyone's horrified expressions once again and fought back tears. Everything became foggy in his vision.

There was more yelling. Shadow stood at the base of the energy field, consumed by a beam of light. The beam of light moved away from Shadow and faced the other struggling Mobians.

The Emeralds formed some sort of dark matter, which collided with the light and caused another explosion. A white blur zoomed by as it headed for Shadow.

"Shadow . . . !" the white blur yelled. "I . . . I found it!"

"Found what, Rouge?"

"The fake . . . Chaos Emerald! Catch it!"

"Never knew your infamous thievery skills would come in handy," Shadow thought with a twisted smile as he held on to a thick black wire.

Rouge produced a yellowish jewel and attempted to throw it to the struggling black and red hedgehog. The Emerald fell on the ground close to Shadow with a clink. The hedgehog stretched his arm as far as he could in order to reach the jewel.

"Come on . . ! Come . . . on!" With a final cry of effort, Shadow snagged the Emerald.

Sonic and the other Mobians started screaming again. A giant black hole created by the dark energy began to vacuum them up. Shadow and Rouge felt the compelling force and tried to fight it.

Sonic gripped the edge of the floor where the black hole opened up. The Mobians made a chain into the abyss, each one clutching the other's arm. Shadow and Rouge fell into the abyss first, screaming, before Shadow could do anything with the Emerald.

"Rouge!" Knuckles screamed over the roar of the black hole. Sonic felt his grip loosen.

"No!"

The rest of the Mobians fell into the black void, all expecting the worst and clutching to each other.

* * *

Sonic opened his eyes wearily. He was lying in a grassy field, where he noticed his friends all were, too. Scattered, but all present. A soft voice, a strange voice, was conversing with a deep, masculine voice.

"What are they?" asked the feminine voice.

"I have no idea, but we should probably get them inside where they'll be safe from response teams and NASA investigators. I don't think any of them are dangerous," the deeper voice responded.

"Shouldn't we . . . check first?" the softer voice sounded concerned.

"Well . . . I suppose. Are any of them awake?"

A figure stood over Sonic, peering at his eyes. Sonic gazed into a pair of bright green eyes curiously. The figure jumped back in surprise.

"Oh! I'm sorry . . ."

"It's fine . . ." Sonic mumbled, sitting up and rubbing the back of his head. "Ahh, my head . . . where am I?"

The woman smiled politely.

"You're . . . well, on Earth. I'm guessing you aren't from here?"

"No. I'm from Mobius."

The woman bit her lip and shook her head.

"Didn't think so," she replied. "Look, you aren't . . . here to harm us, are you?"

"As long as you don't hurt my friends and I, ma'am," Sonic said boldly. The woman nodded her approval.

"I think we should get you all inside. Would you be okay with that?"

"Just give me something to eat and you'll have gained my trust," Sonic said, listening to his stomach rumble loudly.

The woman, named Mrs. Charis and her husband, the source of the deeper voice, carried the other Mobians inside and waited as they all roused from their passed-out state. Sonic explained all he knew of the situation to the frightened and confused Mobians. Once he had finished the explanation, Mrs. Charis served breakfast, which was gratefully eaten as the Mobians nervously met with the other family members.

"You're welcome to stay here for as long as you need," Mrs. Charis offered.

To be brief, there was much long discussion and arguments before the Mobians all agreed to stay in the house with the residing family until they could find a way home to Mobius. Doubts were exchanged as the Mobians adjusted to the new atmosphere.


	2. Chapter 2

_6 months later . . ._

Sonic the Hedgehog was resting in a white hammock, sipping a glass of cold lemonade. The summers on Earth were so peaceful and quiet, and he didn't want to miss a minute of it.

"Sooooonnniiiicccc!"

Sonic opened one eye lazily. He scanned the area around the house with that one eye, looking for the source of the noise. When he didn't see anyone, the blue hedgehog shrugged and closed his eye again. Only a split second after doing so, Sonic reopened his eye and barely escaped a flash of bright pink followed by a hard blow to his chest as he hit the ground below the hammock.

"Geez, Amy, you could at least give me a warning!" he muttered. Amy Rose grinned widely, holding her massive mallet behind her.

"It's time for dinner, sleepyhead! Don't be late!" Sonic rubbed his head and picked up the now-empty glass and accompanying straw and paper umbrella. Amy raised an eyebrow and smiled coyly. "Mrs. Charis made your favorite, you know . . ."

Sonic lightened up and widened his eyes.

"She made chili dogs?"

Amy nodded proudly.

"Yep! She knows you all too well."

"Well, we've been stuck here for months now," Sonic pointed out. Amy looked at the ground sadly and sighed.

"Will we ever get back to Mobius, Sonic?"

Sonic shrugged.

"Eh, who knows? We'll find some way to go back home, just wait, Amy."

Amy sighed dreamily.

"I love it when you say my name . . ."

The blue hedgehog backed away slowly.

"Uh . . . yeah, sure . . ." he stuttered. With that, Amy chased Sonic into the house for dinner.

Mrs. Charis set a plate of hot dogs and a bowl of steaming-hot chili on the kitchen table. Sonic's tongue hung out of his mouth.

"All right! Another masterpiece, Mrs. Charis!"

The middle-aged woman smiled, showing her pearly white teeth and emerald-green eyes.

"Why, thank you, Sonic!"

Mrs. Charis, known for her kind and hospitable nature, was also one woman who seemed to have no visible sign of aging. Her face was round and sweet, and her hair fell to her mid-back in a long deep brown braid.

The other Mobians sat around the large table, also eying the food. Tails and Cream had already begun to stab at the hot dogs with their forks and bite off huge chunks, like any hungry children would do when presented with food. Knuckles scolded them and demonstrated how to properly eat a hot dog; a pure giggle fest for the kids as they saw him chewing his food and watched chili dribble down his chin. Amy gingerly picked up her salad and bit pieces of the lettuce off while watching intently as Sonic messily gobbled down two chili dogs. Mrs Charis called up the stairs for her own two teenage children.

"Agatha! Gabriel! Time for dinner!"

"Coming, mom!" the two voices called in unison. The first one to descend down the stairs was Agatha, a sixteen-year-old girl with a slim figure and long wavy black hair that flew behind her as she rushed down the stairs. She wore a navy blue tank top with a pair of modestly cut jean shorts that went down to her mid-thigh. Her eyes were bright blue.

"Wow, this looks great, mom!" she said without exaggeration. Her mother chuckled.

"Thanks, honey."

Agatha sat down next to Amy and dug in. Sonic was chomping on his fifth chili dog when he attempted to greet Gabriel with his mouth full.

"Hey, schport!"

"Sonic, close your mouth and chew your food first, hon," Mrs. Charis said. Sonic nodded and continued to fill his cheeks with spicy goodness.

Gabriel slowly stepped down the wooden stairs, yawning.

"Geez, you guys woke me up just by chomping on that food," he joked. Cream waved sweetly.

"Hi, Gabriel! Come and get it before Sonic takes the last few chili dogs!"

"Hey!" Sonic exclaimed, surprised.

Gabriel laughed.

"He won't, sweetheart. Don't worry." Winking, Gabriel sat down and took a hot dog for himself.

Gabriel was the oldest of the Charis children. He stood at a height of six-foot-two, being eighteen years old. Gabriel had dirty blond hair and a dashing smile and charming voice that often attracted swooning girls.

Mrs. Charis noticed the endangered hot dogs and decided to leave some in the oven to stay warm for the last few people who needed to eat.

"This is probably a pointless question, but has anyone seen Shadow and Rouge lately?"

The dinner table went silent as everyone looked at each other, each one looking to see if the other had an answer. Agatha shook her head.

"No, I don't think anyone has, mom."

Mrs. Charis bit her lip nervously.

"They're worse than my teenagers," she muttered. Knuckles, being ever so cynical, crossed his arms.

"Probably went off to cause trouble," he concluded grimly. Gabriel shrugged as he wiped chili from his lip.

"You know, I think that Rouge and Shadow are just more adventurous than the rest of us," he said. Tails spoke up as well.

"They did want to check out this planet pretty thoroughly when we first arrived," he pointed out.

"And now they're just exploring," Cream piped up. Cheese agreed.

"Chao! Chao!"

Mrs. Charis shook her head.

"I worry about those two. They seem so . . . I don't know . . ." Everyone's eyes focused on Mrs Charis as she tried to find the right words. ". . . adult-like. Do you know what I mean?"

"Yeah, well, you're right, Mrs. Charis. I think I'll go look for them." Sonic said, rising from his seat and finally stuffed with spicy chili dogs.

"Me too!" Knuckles volunteered.

Agatha glanced nervously at the two volunteers.

"You should probably wait for them, guys. After all, they always bounce back eventually."

"And they should arrive at the time I asked them to return," Mrs. Charis gazed at the kitchen clock.

Sonic seemed eager for some action as he rushed to put his plate on the counter.

"I'll go look for them with Knuckles, Mrs Charis! We'll find them, don't worry!" Before the mother could say anything, Sonic ran to the door, which he realized was open after bouncing off a black furry mass and falling to the ground.


	3. Chapter 3

"Watch it, faker," growled a voice as Sonic rubbed his head in confusion and pain. Two figures towered over him—a black and red hedgehog and a white bat dressed up in an outfit with heart accents and blue eye makeup.

"Shadow? Rouge? Where have you been?" Sonic asked, getting up and dusting himself off. Rouge, the white bat, chuckled.

"Looking around, really. Nowhere important, just checking out this weird planet."

"Haven't you had enough time for that already?" Knuckles said, suspiciously raising an eyebrow. Rouge rested her elbow on the red echidna's shoulder.

"Sure, but there's always time for more," she insisted playfully. Knuckles pushed her arm off, annoyed. Sonic rolled his eyes.

"You can call me anything, but never late for supper," he mumbled. Shadow narrowed his eyes.

"What's that supposed to mean, faker?"

"Ahh, nothin'. Now eat something! Poor Mrs. Charis was worried about you two!"

Shadow and Rouge walked into the dining room and had their dinner while Agatha was loading up the dishwasher.

"Hey guys," she said cheerfully, "how was your day?"

Rouge shrugged.

"Ehh, I've had better," she replied. Agatha turned to Shadow.

"How about you, Shadow? Anything exciting happen?"

The dark hedgehog looked up coldly.

"No. Nothing exciting. Same as yesterday . . ."

Agatha nodded.

"Hmm. I see." she stated vaguely. Agatha flipped a few pesky strands of black hair behind her head and carried a few dishes into the kitchen. Rouge looked out of a the window in the dining room, watching as Tails, Cream, Cheese, and Amy were playing a game with a ball on the lawn. Shadow continued to quietly eat his chili dog and salad. There was a long silence between the two. A sudden sound of shrill crying erupted from the next room.

"Oh, you're fine, cut it out!" Mrs. Charis said to the sudden cacophony, running to the other room where the sound had come from. She walked back carrying two babies—her fraternal twins, Bernadette and Christopher. Both crying children immediately calmed down as their mother picked them up and rocked them back and forth. Rouge, being oddly kind, stood up and pulled a chair out for the mother. Mrs. Charis sat down gratefully.

"Thank you, Rouge," she breathed. Shadow poked at a cherry tomato with his fork. The red fruit(yes, they are fruits, people!) squirted into his eye. The hedgehog squeezed his eye shut and exhaled sharply. Rouge tried to conceal her smile as she watched. Mrs. Charis knew better and didn't mention the subject. "Now, you two . . ." she started, still rocking her children back to sleep, "how was today? Where did you go?"

"Oh, nowhere, really," Rouge said with a mouthful of lettuce. Shadow nodded.

"We walked through town and went for lunch," he said shortly, "nothing big or exciting."

Mrs. Charis nodded.

"Well, did you have a good time nevertheless?"

Rouge wiped her face with a napkin.

"Yes, ma'am, we had a great time," she answered, setting her silverware neatly on her plate. Shadow did the same as he had also finished his dinner. Mrs. Charis leaned in closer to them and whispered.

"I'm sure you guys were well-behaved, right?"

Rouge put on her most innocent expression.

"Of course, Mrs. Charis! We haven't done anything!"

Shadow remained still as he stared at his empty plate. His silence was never suspicious, only normal.

"I'm only checking," the mother said as she rose from the seat slowly. Shadow saw an opportunity to be a gentleman and help her up, even though she was holding two children. "Why, thank you, Shadow," she said happily.

"You're welcome."

As Mrs. Charis was gently placing the children back into their cribs, Rouge and Shadow took their dishes and set them on the counter, where Agatha was still cramming plates and cups into the dishwasher.

"Where are you guys headed now?" she asked politely. Rouge cocked her head and tapped her chin thoughtfully.

"No idea. Maybe we'll just stay in here and watch TV," she said. Shadow didn't respond, but instead disappeared up the stairs. Rouge raised both eyebrows. "Or maybe _I'll_ watch some TV!" she shouted. Agatha chuckled. _Mobians_.


	4. Chapter 4

"I got it, I got it!" Tails yelled as he ran to catch a high-flying airborne football. He was sprinting, but seeing that it was doing him no good, Tails' instinct kicked in and he lifted himself off of the ground using his two tails. Gabriel yelled from the other side of the yard.

"Hey, no cheating, Tails!" he cried, but all with a smile on his face.

"Heh . . . sorry," Tails said meekly, walking the ball back to the "field". Knuckles groaned.

"Your legs are too short," he remarked. Tails glanced down at his legs.

"They are not!" he insisted. Knuckles smiled.

"Yeah, they are."

"Are not!"

"Are too!"

Sonic and Gabriel exchanged looks that said, "Oh boy, here we go." Gabriel sighed and called over to the bickering echidna and fox.

"Hey guys, come over here! We're switching games!"

Knuckles and Tails gave each other a final glare, and then ran over to the other two.

"Are too."

"Are not!"

"Lighten up, you two, or you're getting an early bedtime!" Sonic said, trying to cut into the argument. Gabriel chuckled.

"Okay, the next game we're going to play is called, 'Spud'. Each one of us will be given a number, and the number that's called will be the person to catch the ball after the caller throws it up in the air. They'll yell 'Spud' after the rest of us run as far as we can from the caller. He'll take three steps towards the next person, throw the ball at them, and if they hit that person, then that person is the caller. For every time you get hit, you get a letter. You lose once you get the letters S, P, U, and D. Sound good?" The Mobians nodded.

"Got it!" they chimed in unison. Before the game started, Amy, Cream, and Cheese approached the group.

"Can we join this game?" Amy inquired. Gabriel nodded.

"Of course! The more, the merrier!" he said.

"Yay!" Cream high-fived her Chao.

"Okay, I'll give you guys your numbers, and then we'll get started. All right?"

"Yeah!"

* * *

Agatha had just finished loading up the dishwasher. She closed it up and put the dish towel back on the rack where it belonged. Agatha went into the TV room, where Rouge was sitting on the red couch and watching a soap opera.

"What'cha watching?" Agatha asked, staring at the flashing screen. Rouge tilted her head to the side to speak, but never took eyes from the screen.

"It's called, 'Hopeless Romantic'. This show is keeping me on the edge of my seat, I'm telling you. No, Christine, don't you dare accept that proposal!" she yelled at the screen, clutching a throw pillow and pointing at the screen with the other hand. The TV showed a young man with a sly grin was holding an open ring box out to a slim stick-figure actress. "Oooh, what a beautiful diamond! Maybe it's not such a bad idea . . ."

Agatha nodded slowly.

"All right, well . . . you have fun, Rouge."

"Believe me, I will," replied Rouge, still not tearing her eyes from the TV.

Agatha tiptoed up the stairs, looking forward to reading her book in bed, followed by a sweet mug of hot chocolate. She opened the door with a creak, just as a dark figure walked through the open window.

Agatha gasped and nearly jumped out of her skin.

"Relax, Agatha, it's only me."

When she turned on the light, Agatha saw Shadow walking across the room, calm as ever.

"Holy crap, Shadow! You scared me!"

"Heh . . . I figured."

"What were you doing?"

Shadow looked back at the window, and then turned again to Agatha.

"Your room is the only one that leads out to the roof. It's a nice place to sit and think. Until I got sick of those kids screaming, 'Spud!' at the top of their lungs."

Agatha tilted her head, puzzled.

"You're always so deep in thought, Shadow. Why is that?"

Shadow shrugged.

"I guess there isn't much else for me to do."

"You can't play games with the rest of the kids?"

Shadow raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms.

"Apparently, neither can you."

Agatha raised both eyebrows.

"Touché," she said. "I like my quiet time; I suppose everyone does."

"There you have it," Shadow said. "I'll leave you alone now, like you so kindly did for me."

"Thanks, Shadow. Oh, and can you please close the door on your way out?"

"No problem," grunted Shadow. He stepped closer to the door and then noticed Agatha as she picked up her book. She opened it up, and then realized that Shadow was still standing in the doorway.

"Uh . . . you okay, Shadow?"

Shadow stared at the book for a moment, and then shook his head rapidly.

"Yeah . . . I'm fine."

"Okay."

Shadow closed the door on his way out, as Agatha began to read and entered a different world.

Shadow stood motionless outside the door for a moment, and then suddenly heard a close voice.

"_Spud!_" Sonic stood at the end of the hallway, holding the ball and balancing on one leg.

"Don't you even think about it," Shadow growled. Sonic took the risk anyway.

One step.

Two steps.

Three steps.

Before Shadow had time to say anything else, the ball had struck his face. Sonic laughed triumphantly, but only just before Shadow began chasing him around the house angrily.


	5. Chapter 5

Tails, Cream, and Cheese snuggled up in their beds in the TV room. Sonic and Amy covered them up and bid them goodnight.

"Just like married couples and their kids!" Amy exclaimed excitedly. Sonic rubbed the back of his head.

"Yeah . . . just like that," he said awkwardly. He shut off the lights and walked into the living room, where a fire was peacefully crackling and letting off smoke. Agatha laid on the couch, reading as usual. Shadow wandered around the house, coming into the living room, circling the kitchen, and then through the dining room. Rouge was staring out of the window next to the staircase.

"Hey, guys," Sonic whispered. Agatha gave a pleasant smile in return, and Rouge and Shadow simply ignored him. Amy skipped up to Rouge.

"You and Shadow need to lighten up!" she said playfully. Rouge glanced at her from the window.

"We'll work on it," replied the bat, shrugging and looking back out the window. Sonic shook his head.

"I just try to live in the moment," he mumbled.

Shadow continued his pacing, while stroking his chin and muttering to himself. Agatha watched as he walked into the living room and circled twice. The black-haired girl set down her book and stood up before Shadow stopped circling.

"Shadow?"

No response.

"Shadow!"

"Huh?" The black and red hedgehog snapped up his head as the daze broke.

"You've been pacing for hours, Shads. Why don't you relax for a bit?" Sonic interjected, trying to get involved in conversation. Shadow glared at him.

"My mind is never relaxed, faker."

Sonic shrugged and sat in front of the fire.

"Well, suit yourself, then. Hey, Agatha, did Gabriel go to bed?"

Shadow began pacing again. Agatha sat back down and answered Sonic's question.

"Yeah, I think he did. He's pretty tired from playing games with you guys all day."

Amy crossed her arms and protested.

"He was napping right before dinner! How could he be tired?"

"Guys like him tend to tire out easily, you know."

"Oh, fine. I think we're all too tired, anyway."

There was a short pause. Sonic stayed in front of the fire and shut his eyes, happy by doing nothing in particular. He had a sudden thought.

"Where's Knuckles, then?"

Agatha lifted her eyebrows.

"Excellent question. I have no idea."

"I'm right here, guys. Geez, I can't even go into the kitchen without everyone getting all worked up, can I?" The red echidna stepped out of the kitchen and finished chewing something. Sonic chuckled.

"Who's getting worked up? We're just wondering," he responded quickly. Knuckles, who seemed too tired to reply with a smart remark, sat in a red armchair near the bookshelves. It was quiet for another few minutes, save for the anxious sound of Shadow's air shoes hitting the ground and an occasional sound from the kitchen as Mrs. Charis finished up the dishes. It was a quiet evening for all.

Rouge and Amy went off to bed first, then Knuckles, and then Sonic. Shadow, Agatha, and Mrs. Charis were the only ones awake.

"Shadow, honey, would you like anything to drink?" Mrs. Charis asked sweetly, though she appeared incredibly exhausted. Shadow stopped in the kitchen where he was pacing.

"No, don't trouble yourself. I'll be okay," he mumbled.

"Well, then come and sit down. Doesn't that restless pacing make you tired?" she asked as Shadow sat down in a stool in front of the counter. The hedgehog shook his head.

"Not in the least."

Mrs. Charis nodded and decided not to bring up the subject any more. Shadow always seemed different from the others, even Rouge. He was darker and seemed to always be deep in thought. However, the housewife didn't bring up the thought and instead quietly fixed a glass of ice water and slid it down the counter to Shadow, who caught it.

"I said you shouldn't trouble yourself," Shadow grumbled. Mrs. Charis smiled.

"It's no trouble, dear. Drink up!"

Shadow shrugged off his stubbornness and took a sip of the cold drink. Mrs. Charis scurried around the kitchen and warmed up some more food for her husband, who she was expecting to arrive at any moment. Shadow knew the routine well: Mr. Charis always came home from work late. He worked as a bookstore owner, selling the rich treasures bound with tight story lines to the eager customers. Shadow sipped his water again.

The sound of a key turning in the doorknob interrupted the deep silence. Mrs. Charis shuffled to the front door to greet her husband. Shadow's ears perked up as he heard the deep voice.

"Hi, honey."

"Hello, dear!" came the ecstatic voice of Mrs. Charis. There was a brief silence. _Probably kissing,_ Shadow thought, disgusted. The silence ended after a moment.

"Well, how was work, Peter?"

"It was great. Nothing unusual, really. Same old bookstore, same old smell of the books."

"I have dinner warmed up for you."

"Thanks, honey."

Mr. Charis stepped into the room, taking off his hat and kicking off his shoes. He was a tall man with a similar appearance as Gabriel, except for older features and less hair. He wore a green polo shirt and a pair of khaki pants. Peter had a clean-shaven face and very few wrinkles. Peter, though very friendly, always struck those who saw him first as rather intimidating, considering his large build and gut.

"Oh, hello, Shadow! I wasn't expecting to see you up at this hour," he said, jovially smiling at the dark figure in the stool. Shadow waved his hand once as a greeting.

"Good evening, Mr. Charis," he replied grimly and shortly. Peter sat in the stool next to Shadow as his wife set up his dinner. Peter, with his friendly and social characteristics, tried to converse with the hedgehog.

"So, Shadow, why aren't you sleeping like the other Mobians? Shouldn't you be in bed?"

Shadow turned to the big man and answered bluntly.

"Long story short, Mr. Charis, I often have a lot on my mind. It isn't very easy for me to sleep."

Peter nodded and accepted his dinner from his wife, mumbling a quick, "Thanks, hon", and then began to eat his chili dog messily. Shadow took another small swig from his glass and swirled it around, creating tiny whirlpools with the ice. Mr. Charis dripped chili on his plate from his chin.

Mrs. Charis handed a newspaper to her husband.

"Here you are, Peter. Today's paper."

"Oh, great. What kind of shenanigans are going on today?"

"There's still a lot of political nonsense going on, I see," remarked Mrs. Charis, looking over her husband's shoulder. Shadow, who was still sipping his drink, pretended that he wasn't listening. Peter breathed heavily through his nostrils.

"Who's this guy now?" the man inquired with a full mouth, pointing at a young man on the front page. Mrs. Charis opened her mouth to speak, but then noticed Shadow playing with his empty glass.

"Oh, Shadow, would you like some more?" she asked politely, "I'm so sorry for not offering you something earlier."

"Oh no, I'll be fine. Thanks for offering, though." The hedgehog jumped off of the stool, which was only a little shorter than he was. "I'll go to bed now."

"Okay, honey. Have a good night's sleep!"

"Thank you, Mrs. Charis. Good night." He nodded to Peter. "Mr. Charis."

" 'Night, Shadow."

Shadow got into the living room, where Agatha was sound asleep on the couch with the book next to her head. Shadow decided to let her be, seeing that she looked very peaceful. He sat in the armchair next to the fireplace and let himself drift off into a restless sleep.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: This chapter requires a bit more reading than the others . . . in other words, it's a lot longer. All part of the fun, right? Please review!**

* * *

As usual, Sonic woke up first and checked to see if anyone else was also awake. He crept up the stairs and went down the hallway to wake up Gabriel. The blue hedgehog slowly opened the door and sped to the side of the bed where Gabe was snoring with his mouth wide open. Sonic chuckled as he bent his knees, ready to strike.

"You can't be late for breakfast, sport," he whispered, trying to see if Gabe was sleeping lightly. The boy merely shuffled slightly in his sleep and gave no further responses. Sonic shrugged and lifted his arms behind him. "Well, you asked for it!"

The speedy hedgehog pounced on the bed and started jumping repeatedly. Gabriel woke with a start and drowsily yelled at Sonic.

"Hey . . ! Every morning, you . . . little-"

"C'mon, Gabe! Momma says breakfast is ready! If you don't eat it, it's mine!" The bed bounced and squeaked as Sonic continued to hop. Gabriel groaned.

"My life wasn't this difficult before you guys came," he muttered. Sonic jumped high one last time and then landed in a sitting position.

"Ahh, you know we're awesome. You just don't want to admit it."

"Frankly, I don't. I'm grumpy when I'm woken up in such an energetic way."

"You'd get along well with Shadow, then," Sonic retorted. Gabriel hoisted himself up and slipped on a pair of green socks that sat on his bedside table.

"Would I, now? Well, maybe we should wake him up, then."

Sonic thought better of the situation.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you, pal. Shadow isn't just grumpy, but he gets pretty angry and might unleash some Chaos Energy on you."

Gabriel ran his fingers through his bed headed hair.

"Maybe I can hold off for now," he joked. Sonic hopped off of the bed and ran to the door, all in a blue flash. He tapped his foot rapidly and impatiently, waiting for the teenage boy to lift himself out of bed.

"Come on, slowpoke, breakfast is waiting!"

"Geez, I'm coming, I'm coming! Man, you're impatient."

Gabe shuffled his way to the door and watched Sonic scurry down the stairs. He chuckled to himself and yawned as he made his way down the staircase.

"Morning, Gabe!" came the chorus of Mobians. Apparently they all had the same amount of unbelievable energy.

"Hey, guys. How's breakfast?"

"It's great!" Tails chirped. Amy and Knuckles sat beside each other, calmly chewing their eggs and bacon.

"Always the best, Mrs. Charis!" exclaimed Cream. Her chao, Cheese, exclaimed in agreement.

"Chao, chao!"

Mrs. Charis nodded strangely as she bustled around the kitchen. She didn't say anything until Gabe entered the room.

"Hi, honey. Eggs and bacon?"

"Um . . . yes, please . . ."

Mrs. Charis nodded again and got to work making more breakfast. She wasn't as cheery as usual.

Agatha rose from her spot on the couch and lazily slid into the tile floor of the kitchen.

"Why didn't anyone tell me I fell asleep on the couch last night?" she yawned. A deep voice followed hers.

"You looked peaceful and I didn't want to disturb you," Shadow said. He sat himself down next to Knuckles, who seemed frustrated with Shadow's decision.

"Where's Rouge?" he asked simply.

"Dunno," Shadow grunted in response.

"Come on, she should be awake by now!"

"She's probably just fixing her makeup," Amy snapped.

Knuckles growled.

"Look, I'm only asking. No need for everyone to snappy."

"Everyone does seem awfully crabby today," Tails remarked. Sonic joined the conversation.

"Hey, guys, chill out! There's no reason to be so anxious. Relax a bit!"

"In case you haven't realized, faker, we've been here 'relaxing' for months, and we still haven't gotten back to Mobius."

Every eye, including the humans', turned to Shadow. His comeback was surprising and somewhat shocking. Sonic widened his eyes.

"Hey, I'm just-"

"Currently, you're just avoiding working on getting us all back home. Instead, you're spending that time creating excuses while sipping lemonade from a crystal glass and enjoying life when there's work to be done. Have you thought of that?"

Mrs. Charis, hearing the start of the debate, ran into the room and started to intervene.

"Now, hold on, you two-"

Sonic ignored the woman's plea. As he continued to argue, the poor housewife shook her head and decided that it wasn't her business to get into. Mrs. Charis hurriedly made her way back into the kitchen.

"I'm doing the best I can! Believe it or not, I've tried to think of ways to get back home, honest!" Sonic protested.

"You haven't shared a single one with us, faker."

"Well, they're all silly ideas! I can't give answers or progress when there's none to be shared!"

"I'd expect nothing less from you, faker. Just like the lazy hedgehog you are."

Sonic stood up and slammed his hands on the table.

"Well, if you're so smart, then, why don't you think of a way to get back, Shads?"

Shadow kept his cool.

"Maybe I will. Maybe you should put me in charge of this whole operation."

"Stop it, you two!" Cream squeaked, being the peacemaker of the group.

"Knock it off!" Knuckles shouted.

A rapid fluttering sound came from upstairs. While everyone was frozen and wondering what it was, a white blur tackled Shadow and brought him down to the wooden floor.

"You boys aren't behaving yourselves," said the feminine and charming voice. Shadow growled.

"Rouge, get off me."

"Not until you apologize to the nice faker, hothead."

"I will once you get off me."

Rouge stubbornly held Shadow's arms pinned against the ground.

"Just do it, and I will grant you freedom," she said promisingly. Shadow groaned and shut his eyes.

"My apologies, faker," Shadow apologized through his teeth. Rouge lifted her hands from Shadow's elbows and jumped back, heading to the kitchen.

"Now you boys be good, while I check on poor old Mrs. Charis. No more arguing. Oh, and I _was_ adjusting my makeup, Amy," she stated with a strong air of sass. Amy crossed her arms and frowned.

"I knew it!" she declared.

Agatha and Gabriel glanced nervously at each other, not saying a word. The rest of the Mobians, including Sonic and Shadow, remained eerily quiet.

* * *

Rouge strutted into the kitchen. To her surprise, Mrs. Charis and her husband were hugging in the middle of the room. Mrs. Charis was obviously crying. Peter turned to Rouge, giving her an expression that asked what she wanted.

"Ah . . . I can come back later," she stuttered, feeling bad for interrupting. Mrs. Charis snapped her head back up and wiped her tears away. Her eyes were puffy and red.

"No, no, Rouge. Please don't worry, I'm fine. Would you like something, honey?"

"Well, I can just grab something really quickly. I don't want to intrude."

"Please don't worry about it, honey. I'll take care of you. Peter, sweetie, you can head to work now."

"Dear, are you sure?"

"Yes, I'll be just fine."

"All right. You'll have the kids to keep you company and to help you out."

"And the Mobians. We'll be fine for now. Go on. I love you, honey."

"Love you, hon. Goodbye."

"Goodbye, Peter."

Mr. Charis departed through the front door and left Mrs. Charis with the Mobians and her children.

"Are you sure everything's all right?" Rouge asked uncertainly. Mrs. Charis nodded.

"Yes, Rouge, dear. Please don't worry. I'm perfectly fine. I just get . . . emotional at times."

Rouge nodded and wisely chose not to push the subject any further. She sat in a stool at the counter.

"Well, then, would it be all right if I could have a few eggs?"

"Of course, honey."

Rouge watched as Mrs. Charis cracked the eggs into a bowl and scrambled them for the Mobian guest. The bat's keen eyes caught sight of the newspaper from the previous day. The front page bore a picture of a young man in the midst of a crowd of people. Rouge tilted her head slightly to read the headline.

**"New President Comes Into Office; First Action Will Be Removal Of Strangers"**

Rouge looked to see if Mrs. Charis was looking, and then swiped the front page of the paper from the rest and began reading the article under the counter.

_"Newly elected president, whose name has been voted on anonymity, has decided to remove all illegal aliens from this country, no matter what the case is. Debates have specifically been thrown around Congress arguing the arrival of a strange new species, the Mobians. The outcome of these debates show that a majority of Congressmen have decided that these creatures are dangerous and cannot be allowed to stay here any longer. The powers that they bear have proven to be destructive and therefore threatening to the population of those innocent people who might be victimized by attacks. Mr. President has concluded that scientists should halt all astronomical discovery to search for a way to send these aliens to where they came from. Other sources report that the Mobians will be temporarily locked up as the NASA workers research the energy that caused the arrival of the dangerous creatures." _

"Rouge, honey, here's your eggs."

Rouge dropped the page of the paper, startled by the sudden breakfast offering.

"Oh, yeah. Thanks." Rouge accepted the eggs and ran her fork over them a few times. Mrs. Charis noticed the change in disposition and then looked over to where the newspaper was. The front page was missing.

The distraught woman leaned over the counter and lowered her voice to a whisper.

"You saw it, didn't you?"

Rouge stared at her eggs and put her fork down.

"This is why you're upset, then?" she asked slowly. Mrs. Charis nodded.

"I can't stand conflict. It tears me apart, you know."

"I've noticed," Rouge responded. "We can take this guy. He'll be sorry to oppose us," she stated bravely. Mrs. Charis shook her head violently.

"I wouldn't, Rouge. This man, if he takes out any one of you, could have you killed. I wouldn't live with myself if that happened!"

Rouge took her plate and fork, ready to make her way into the dining room.

"Spoken like a true mother," she said, winking at the woman. "We'll figure something out, as soon as I work this out with the others."

Mrs. Charis went around the counter to Rouge and grasped her shoulders.

"Then I need you to promise me something, Rouge."

"Yes, ma'am?"

"Please don't tell the little ones."

Rouge pondered this, frowning.

"Well, they've been through a lot before, you know . . ."

"_Rouge._" There was a startling sternness in Mrs. Charis' voice. Rouge was taken aback by the reply. She reluctantly agreed.

"Well, I guess I won't then . . ."

Mrs. Charis let go of the bat's shoulders.

"Thank you. Now try not to think about it now. Please go enjoy your breakfast. If you need anything, then please tell me."

Rouge nodded and went into the dining room, thinking of ways that she could face this man.

_Oh, I'll give you power,_ she thought. _Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned . . ._


	7. Chapter 7

"Well, look what the cat dragged in," came an annoyed voice from the dining room. Knuckles sat by himself with his feet on the table. Rouge set her plate down next to the echidna and flicked his ear playfully.

"Good morning to you, too, sunshine," she said. Knuckles took his feet off of the table as Rouge started eating her breakfast.

"Mrs. Charis is pretty upset today, huh?" he asked seriously.

Rouge swallowed a mouthful of scrambled eggs.

"Yeah. She's not too happy."

Knuckles grunted in response and looked out the window at the younger Mobians, Gabriel, and Agatha playing outside together. Every now and then, one or two of them would freeze as another person tagged them. Tails halted in a one-legged position, and after a second of wobbly struggling to balance, he collapsed and rubbed the back of his neck. Knuckles yawned and stood up.

"I think I'll take a nap now," he said, stretching out his arms. Rouge raised an eyebrow.

"Since when have you napped right after breakfast?" she inquired suspiciously.

Knuckles crossed his arms defiantly, like a child.

"Since now, because I'm tired and edgy. This morning was rough."

"How much did I miss, big guy? All I could hear from upstairs was the blue faker raising his voice and Shadow countering the arguments."

Knuckles growled and gritted his teeth.

"You didn't miss much. And how many times do I have to tell you not to call Sonic a 'faker'?"

Rouge strutted to the doorway with her plate in hand.

"One more plus the last few times," she replied smartly, "now tell me, what did I miss?"

Knuckles sighed in defeat.

"Not only do you crave treasure, but apparently gossip, too. Well, Shadow made a smart remark at the table when everyone was tense enough. You can guess that it was a comment against Sonic, I'm sure," he added. Rouge nodded.

". . . and?"

"And . . . it all went downhill from there. Then you tackled Shadow before things got too heated up."

Rouge nodded in self-approval at her accomplishment.

"All in a day's work," she said, winking at Knuckles. Knuckles, with his arms still crossed, shook his head in serious thought.

"I don't know . . . everyone was all snappy before. Mrs. Charis is in a rough mood, too. I mean, she's always so . . . perky and cheerful. Do you suppose there's something to worry about?" Knuckles thought aloud. Rouge stood in silence for a moment, and then flew into the kitchen and back in two seconds flat. She returned with a piece of the newspaper—the front page.

"Read this article."

"Huh? Why?"

"Will ya just do it?" Rouge demanded, annoyed. Bewildered, Knuckles skimmed the page. His eyes widened as he read more of the article. Once he'd finished, Knuckles clenched his spiked fists angrily.

"Who has the _nerve_ to even _consider_ . . ." Rouge slapped a gloved hand around his mouth.

"Shh!" she looked around to see if anyone else was around. Seeing no one in close range besides Mrs. Charis, who was in the kitchen, Rouge slowly took her hand away from the echidna's mouth. "Okay hothead, here's the thing: This is why Mrs. Charis is so upset. She doesn't want us to be imprisoned, hurt or killed. She also doesn't want the kids to know about this . . . yet."

Knuckles slid his hand down his face, worried, angry, and concerned all at the same time.

"I knew this would happen at some point," he said sadly.

"Yeah, and just when we thought we were in the clear," Rouge concurred.

Both of them looked out the window, seeing the group of Mobians and two humans frolicking about again. Agatha chased Tails around, when suddenly she tripped and fell. For a moment, she laid on the ground, her body shaking in a strange way. The odd movements registered as laughter as Sonic helped her up and revealed a smile on the girl's reddened face. The red echidna chuckled at the slight incident.

"When do we tell them?" he wondered aloud. Rouge sighed.

"Sometime today, at least," replied the bat. She gazed out the window at everyone running around and laughing with delight. After a moment, she fluttered to the door.

"Where are you going?" Knuckles asked.

"I think I'm going to tell Shadow."

"Right now?"

Rouge tilted her head.

"Is there a problem with that, hothead?"

Knuckles let out a low sound from the back of his throat.

"Fine. But if he gets angry, call for me. I feel like punching something."

"Well, quite frankly, big guy, apparently I'm the only one this morning who had the gall to take him down when things were getting intense. Believe me, I'll be fine."

Knuckles was left furiously speechless as Rouge flew up the stairs.

* * *

"Shadow? Hey, Shadow?"

Rouge called for the hedgehog, but there was no answer. She muttered to herself.

"Come on, Shadow, I know you're up here . . ."

After a few more minutes of searching, the bat flew past a closed door. She stopped herself and quietly knocked.

"Hello? Anyone in there?"

No response. Rouge turned the knob and slowly pushed the door open.

"Hello?"

When the door opened, the white bat widened her eyes. This room was the twins' room, complete with two baby cribs, a wall painted sky-blue and decorated with clouds, and a tiny dresser and toys on the ground. Shadow stood frozen next to one of the white cribs, gently holding one of the babies in his arms. Rouge tried to stifle her laughter.

"Bad time, eh?" she whispered in a fit of giggles. Shadow hastily placed the sleeping child back into his crib. His muzzle turned red.

"His crying was getting on my nerves," Shadow explained, gritting his teeth. "If you _dare_ to tell one of the others . . ."

"Oh, I won't, _daddy_," she teased, still giggling. Shadow hurried out of the room, dragging her by the arm. When he closed the door, Rouge had tears streaming down her eyes.

"What is so funny? Stop that, or you'll wake them up and this time _you'll _be the one to be rocking them back to sleep!"

"I'm sorry . . ." Rouge said between laughs, "but it was just so . . . _unexpected_!"

Shadow rolled his eyes.

"Get a grip, already," he growled.

Rouge doubled over with laughter. Shadow continued to stare at her until she could control herself and the laughter.

"I'm sorry . . . ha . . . ahhh . . ." Rouge wiped a tear from her eye and straightened herself up.

"Now why did you want me?" asked Shadow.

Rouge pulled the front page of the paper out from her boot, given that she had no pockets. She handed it to Shadow.

"Read this part," she said, pointing to the article. "And don't wake up the kids," she added, giggling.

"Oh, shut up!" Shadow whisper-bellowed, definitely not wanting to wake up the twins again. His red eyes moved across the page and he mumbled while reading. As he finished reading, Shadow slowly lifted his head from the page. He frowned. "So what?"

Rouge lifted her eyebrows.

"This guy wants to get rid of us. He says he thinks we're dangerous and need to be locked up."

"As if I haven't gotten enough of that already," Shadow muttered, "I'll show him dangerous. A bit of Chaos Energy could easily convert him."

"That's what I thought. We could take him on, no problem. But here's the thing . . ."

Shadow crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow.

"I'm listening."

"Mrs. Charis doesn't want us to go after him. She thinks it's too much of a risk for us to hunt him down."

"Ha! Team Dark would never miss an opportunity to attack."

Rouge shook her head.

"We might have to this time," Rouge said. Shadow said nothing in response. He stared at the ground. Rouge put her hand on Shadow's shoulder. "You realize it's for Mrs. Charis, right?"

Shadow bared his teeth slightly and kept his head down.

" . . . yes."

Rouge smiled and gave Shadow a punch on the shoulder.

"Good! Now you go back to doing what you were doing. I'll come back to check on you."

Shadow pursed his lips and walked away from the door as Rouge smirked and began to snicker. _It's not worth it . . . _he thought grimly.


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: Quick note before you read-Chapter 9 will take a little longer to complete, seeing that I am struggling with it. I apologize for the inconvenience, and I hope I can have it up soon. **

* * *

Later that day, Agatha ran her brush through her black hair after showering. She fluffed it out, becoming frustrated with the black mass and the ways in which it would not cooperate. There was a knock at her door.

"Who is it?" she called, not quite allowing the visitor to enter yet. After all, after the Mobians had come, Agatha had learned that she'd now have more people knocking at the door besides her own brother. In short, she knew better than to scream at the person to go away.

"Just a friend!" a small, high-pitched voice responded. Agatha chuckled and hastily pinned her hair up so she'd look somewhat decent. Upon opening the door, the girl chuckled. Cream stood at the door with Cheese, rocking back and forth on her heels. She held up a tray of little shortbread cookies. "Miss Agatha, could we play with you for a little while?"

Agatha patted Cream's head.

"Of course, Cream. Come right in. Ahh . . ." Agatha took a second look at her room as Cream skipped inside. She pulled on the chain around her neck embarrassingly. "I'm . . . I'm sorry for the mess."

Cream set the cookie tray on Agatha's unmade bed. She jumped on the bed and sat down, swinging her legs as she sat.

"Oh, it's okay! I don't mind! Would you like a cookie?"

Agatha finished braiding her hair in a loose side-braid. She turned and sat on the bed next to Cream and Cheese.

"Sure! They look good!"

"Chao chao!" agreed Cheese as he wolfed down his third cookie in a shower of crumbs. Agatha and Cream ate the cookies quietly, each one chewing modestly and not spitting crumbs everywhere, as Cheese was.

"Silly chao!" Cream exclaimed affectionately. Cheese spun around happily.

"Chao-chao! Chao!"

Agatha finished her cookie.

"So, is everyone else outside?" she asked.

"Yes, they are. I think they're still playing games. I left because I was getting kinda bored."

Agatha nodded slightly. She went to the window and looked through it, seeing Sonic zipping around and Knuckles chasing after him, flailing his arms angrily. Sonic skidded to a halt, probably to say something witty, and then took off again.

Cream giggled as she watched the situation unfold.

"Oh, Sonic. He's so funny!" she squealed happily. Agatha chuckled as well.

"Yeah. You're all crazy."

There was another knock at the door. Cream skipped over to it and yelled through it.

"Who's there?"

"It's Amy!" came the voice from behind the door. Cream jumped to the doorknob and twisted it open with a squeak. Amy poked her head through and looked at Agatha.

" Hey, Agatha! I think your mom wants to see you."

"Okay, Amy. Thanks!"

"It's no problem," Amy said proudly. Agatha left the room after thanking Cream for the cookies. Once she had gone, Amy lowered her eyes to the ground.

"I dunno, Cream. Something's up today."

The rabbit scooped the crumbs up from Agatha's bed and brushed them on the tray of remaining cookies.

"What do you mean?" she asked, frowning.

"Haven't you noticed? Mrs. Charis isn't acting the way she normally does. Do you think there's something wrong?"

Cream looked anxiously out the window.

"I guess you're right . . ." she sighed, afraid of what might happen next. Cheese's bow tie drooped as he sadly said,

"Chao chao . . ."

* * *

Rouge confronted Knuckles at the back door when he had finished chasing Sonic around.

"I'm done with that spiky blue prankster!" he yelled, panting. Rouge wrinkled her nose.

"I'll say. You smell like you've run a marathon through a garbage dump," she retorted, fanning the air in front of her face. Knuckles sat down on the wooden porch.

"Hey, chasing Sonic around basically is running a marathon, you know. It's hard!"

"Excuses, excuses," Rouge replied. "Have you actually gotten to tell him the news yet? He ought to know."

Knuckles shook his head, staring at the step below him.

"Ahh, he's impossible to talk to," Knuckles said. Rouge stood in front of him and stuck her hands on her hips.

"Men," she muttered. "Well, if you want something done I guess ya gotta do it yourself." Rouge took off after Sonic with a flutter of her black wings.

"Hey! I tried!" protested Knuckles, "Get back here!"

As he watched Rouge fly away, Knuckles shook his head.

"Well, I guess I'll just go and shower now."

* * *

Sonic laid back on the front lawn and shut his eyes. He thought back to the argument in the morning with Shadow.

_I'd expect nothing less from you, faker. Just like the lazy hedgehog you are . . ._

The words of Shadow spun around his head, replaying over and over like a melody that's impossible to extract from one's mind.

_Maybe I am just that lazy,_ he thought,_ I just can't stay focused. Shadow's right, I gotta get my act together. _

As the blue hedgehog swam through his deep thoughts, Rouge stood by, watching to see if he was asleep. She began to fly over to him, and then bumped into a figure who was also flying towards Sonic.

"Hey!" cried the little voice. Rouge scrambled to her feet and crossed her arms, unamused.

"Watch where you're going, pipsqueak," she growled.

Tails rubbed his head and slowly got up.

"Sorry . . ." he mumbled. "Well, someone's cranky today."

"From what I hear, kid, everyone's got issues today. It'd be best if you stayed out of my way."

"Why? I have to tell Sonic something," Tails complained.

"Oh, your news can wait, believe me, kid."

Tails curled his fingers into fists at both sides of his waist.

"What could you have to tell Sonic that's so important?"

"Now, now, ladies, you'll all have your chance," came Sonic's voice. He stretched out his arms and stood up. "Tails, what did you want to tell me?" he asked. Tails gave Rouge a smirk. Rouge rolled her eyes and crossed her arms.

"Sonic, it's your day to do dishes," he answered importantly. Sonic shrugged.

"Eh, no problem. Thanks, buddy."

"You're welcome, Sonic!" Tails ran off and into the house. Sonic raised an eyebrow at the bat who was tapping her foot impatiently.

"So . . . why are you here? You never talk to me," he remarked smartly. Rouge opened her mouth to say something, and then Sonic held up a finger to halt her. "Wait, wait. If this is about this morning, then-"

"First of all, you don't interrupt a lady when she's speaking. Second, it doesn't really have to do with this morning. I barely even know what happened."

"Hmph! Sure it doesn't," he said in sarcastic response.

"Just listen, speedy. I'm not looking to fight, I swear. You gotta trust me on this one."

Sonic suspiciously pursed his lips.

"Fine. What is it, then?"

Rouge pulled out the wrinkled piece of paper and handed it to Sonic. Confused, the hedgehog opened the folded paper. Rouge pointed to the headline.

"See this? If you read this article . . ."

Sonic read the article and lowered the paper when he finished.

"That certainly makes things interesting, doesn't it?" he said, chuckling darkly. Rouge snatched the article back.

"Really? Is that all you can say about this, speedo? The situation seems pretty dire, you know. We gotta get this guy!"

"Sure, we do. But imagine what would happen if all the humans believed him. Then everyone would be after us, not just him. And besides, if we attack their leader, it wouldn't exactly make us all friends again."

Rouge went completely silent, speechless. For once, she agreed with the blue hedgehog. Of course, she wasn't going to admit it.

Sonic faced the house and gazed at it, lost in thought.

"And just when I thought things were going well," he mumbled.

There was another moment of silence. Sonic snapped out of his gaze and said,

"Well, thanks for the news. I appreciate it."

With a wink, he dashed into the house. Rouge blinked away the dust and coughed.

"Well, then . . ." she said to herself, stuffing the paper back into her boot, ". . . maybe Sonic is sharper than we thought."


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: Okay, I finally got this chapter up! Thankfully, I finished it a lot faster than I was expecting. It's still a little shaky to me, so be sure to review and let me know how it is! Ask questions if you need to. :) **

* * *

Sonic examined a blue plate after taking it out of the dishwasher, looking for any spots of food. When he didn't see any trace of food, the hedgehog stepped on a stool to reach the cabinet and carefully placed the clean dish in its rightful place. He hopped down from the stool and looked at the counter. There was still a small pile of dirty dishes and silverware to put in the dishwasher.

"I'll help you," said a deep voice from behind. Knuckles stood in the doorway, his arms crossed and expression stern. Sonic gave him a thumbs-up.

"All right, knucklehead," he replied.

Knuckles held down his annoyance and started to collect the dirty silverware. The two of them were silent for another few moments, each rinsing the dirty dishes in the sink and putting them in the correct spot in the dishwasher.

The pair finished faster than if Sonic had done it all alone. Knuckles closed up the dishwasher and turned it on.

"Hey, thanks, big guy. What's with the sudden kindness?"

Knuckles wiped his wet hands on a green dish towel.

"I figure that, under the circumstances, I should start trying to get along with everyone more." The echidna leaned in closer and dropped his voice to a whisper. "Someone did tell you the news, right?"

"Yeah, Rouge did," Sonic replied, becoming less cheerful. Knuckles kept his voice down.

"I'm assuming you don't have a plan yet?"

Sonic heard Shadow's voice in his head again.

_Just like the lazy hedgehog you are . . . _

"Hey, I'm working on it! And this time I can say that for real!" he protested, slightly offended by Knuckles' question. Knuckles raised his eyebrows.

"All right, all right! Geez, I was just wondering . . ."

"Well, this time I'm going to tell my plans to you guys. Who else knows?"

"Everyone except Tails, Cream, and Amy," Knuckles specified.

"What don't we know?" inquired a small voice from another room. Tails poked his head through the doorway.

"Shh, Tails!" Knuckles hushed frantically. He pulled Tails into the kitchen and covered his mouth up. "You gotta be quieter than that, pal." He uncovered Tails' mouth and looked around. Sonic set a hand on Tails' shoulder.

"Now, Tails, we've got some bad news."

"The Charis family is kicking us out?" Tails guessed, overwrought. Sonic didn't act surprised at the sudden reaction.

"Well, I hope not," he mumbled. Knuckles gave him a scowl.

"See, Tails, we weren't going to tell you the news yet," Knuckles stammered slightly as Tails looked at him with pure innocence and worry. He turned to Sonic. "Would you . . ?"

Sonic nodded.

"So Tails, the humans have a new leader. He's-"

"That's what you're making such a big deal about?" Tails interrupted. Knuckles gave him a small punch on the shoulder.

"Shut up and listen!" he snarled. Sonic went on as Tails rubbed his shoulder.

"This guy, whose name hasn't been said, doesn't like Mobians."

"He wants to kill us all," remarked a voice from behind. Shadow stood in the doorway, arms crossed and full body weight set on the frame of the door. Tails glanced at Shadow, and then back at Sonic.

"Sonic is . . . is this true?"

Sonic glared at Shadow, who willingly glared back.

"More or less," Sonic muttered. Tails gaped for a moment at Knuckles, who simply nodded.

"Why . . . why would he want to . . ."

"This punk thinks that we're dangerous," Shadow persisted, seemingly trying to scare Tails, "and apparently he's requesting 'politely' that we come out of hiding to confront him," he added, holding up the most recent newspaper. Sonic squinted at the headline.

**"President Promises to Use Force as a Final Resort Only—Requests that Mobians Come Forward Peacefully"**

Sonic exchanged glances with Knuckles, who shook his head.

"That's not very convincing," Knuckles stated suspiciously. "Sonic, what will we do? I wanna punch this guy so hard . . ."

"Watch it, knucklehead. We can't just attack him; there's too many problems that would come from that. Plus, if the humans' new leader is telling everyone that we're dangerous, then everyone would be after us, not just the president guy."

"Then what do you suggest we do, faker?" Shadow inquired darkly.

"Well, the way I see it, we could do two things: We could stay here and wait to see what happens next, or we could face this guy and see what his deal is."

"He might kill us on the spot!" Tails cried.

Shadow raised an eyebrow. Sonic stroked his chin for a moment and then snapped his fingers.

"Maybe he's not trying to kill us after all," he thought aloud.

"What? Are you crazy?" Knuckles replied, appalled.

Sonic shrugged.

"Hey, maybe he isn't so bad. This little invitation might be a good opportunity to make peace and he could actually help us to get home."

The other three stared at Sonic, all shocked at his decision.

"While you do have a point, faker, what reason has this man given us to trust him?"

"Well, what reason has he given us not to trust him?" Sonic countered.

"Oh, perhaps that he's broadcasting to the world that we're dangerous and could potentially destroy entire cities," Shadow retorted.

"That's true, but what if we just reason with him?" Sonic asked, looking to Tails and Knuckles for help, "C'mon, guys, it wouldn't hurt, would it?"

Knuckles and Tails nervously glimpsed at each other.

"Sonic, that sounds really . . . risky," Tails stuttered. "What if he thinks you're threatening him?"

"You can't be serious, Sonic," Knuckles interjected, "Don't you find this suspicious at all?"

Sonic mulled it over, feeling stuck.

"It's either I go and try to make peace, or we stay here and put everyone in danger, including the Charis family."

A brief silence ensued. Tails piped up to break it.

"I'm going, too."

"No, Tails. You're too young, and if somehow I do get hurt, I can't see the same thing happen to you."

"But Sonic-"

"Your attempts to be noble are almost comical," Shadow directed to Sonic, "However, he's not just looking for you. He's trying to get rid of all of us."

"But if we help him find some sort of Chaos Energy that could send us home, maybe he'll change his mind."

More silence. No one spoke for almost five minutes. Shadow retired from the group and the discussion, saying nothing as he left.

Sonic buried his face in his palms. Knuckles spoke up.

"These are tough choices, Sonic, but we'll have to make one sooner or later."

After saying that, Knuckles also departed. Tails said nothing, but patted Sonic on the back sympathetically. The little orange fox walked sadly up the stairs. Sonic, all alone, sighed deeply.

"I should go. I mean, what's stopping me?"

"My mom."

Sonic turned to see Gabriel standing in the doorway. He had a very serious expression on his face.

"Hey, sport," Sonic managed to say, cracking a slight smile, "how did you know about it?"

"My mom told me and Agatha about the new president," he explained grimly, "I don't know how to react to all this."

"Neither do I," Sonic replied.

Gabriel invited Sonic to sit at the dining room table with him. Sonic gratefully accepted the offer.

"My mom seems pretty determined to keep you guys away from him. You know, she considers you family now."

"I can see that."

A short pause initiated. Sonic stood up suddenly.

"Tomorrow night, I'll sneak out of the house. I've dealt with this kind of thing before, you know. I'm pretty sure I can handle this one guy."

Gabe looked at the table, concerned.

"No human can really understand what you've been through, Sonic. That's why my mom is struggling to let you guys go."

"But if I stay here, I could put your whole family in danger. I can't just sit here and do nothing; not anymore."

Gabriel hesitated to respond. He stared out the window at the starry sky, lost in thought.

"Well, I won't stop you, then. Do what you think is right."

Sonic watched silently as Gabriel disappeared through the doorway.

"Tomorrow night . . ." he vowed, "I'll be gone."


	10. Chapter 10

The next day came quickly. The sun rose beautifully in a sea of pink and orange clouds. At the breakfast table, Agatha noticed the sunrise.

"Isn't it pretty?" she asked no one in particular, gazing out the window.

"Yeah, it's gorgeous!" Cream breathed in awe as she craned her neck to see it.

"Wow!"

"Cool!"

"Sweet!"

The chorus of Mobians agreeing that the sunrise was beautiful warmed Mrs. Charis' heart. She seemed ecstatic that everyone(maybe except Shadow) seemed less hostile to one another today. Despite their cheerfulness, there was no doubt that most of the breakfast group worried about a potential dictator who hated Mobians.

Rouge, feeling as though she was missing something, tugged at Knuckles' arm.

"Hey, hothead."

"What is it?" he whispered, annoyed.

"Did I . . . miss anything yesterday?"

Knuckles scowled.

"You weren't there when we had that discussion, that's right. Where were you?"

Rouge objected.

"I was never told there was a special meeting! That would have been really nice to know."

"Well, you should have paid more attention. What were you doing? Watching your little soap opera?"

"As a matter of fact, I was!"

Rouge said this louder than what she had expected, and soon every eye was on her and Knuckles.

"What is everyone looking at?" Knuckles growled. This intimidated most of the Mobians to take their plates into the kitchen. Rouge rolled her eyes.

"Well, tell me what happened yesterday!"

"All right, sheesh! Okay . . ."

Knuckles noticed Shadow still quietly and slowly chewing his eggs at the other end of the table.

"May I help you?" Shadow inquired darkly without looking up.

"Knuckles and I need to talk," Rouge said flatly.

Shadow wiped his face gently with a napkin.

"What's stopping you, then?" he asked smartly.

"Nothing. We just need the room empty so we can have some alone time," Rouge said, winking at Knuckles. The echidna's muzzle turned the same color red as his body. He shifted his chair a few inches away from the bat.

"For your information, I attended this little assembly yesterday, too."

"Yeah, uninvited," Knuckles muttered.

Rouge glared at Shadow.

"Why are you eavesdropping on us?"

"I'm not eavesdropping. I think your red friend has very poor whispering skills."

Knuckles looked about ready to explode with rage. Now his cheeks were almost purple rather than red. Rouge snickered at the sight.

"Hon, your face looks like a couple of beets ripening before my eyes," she stated with a frisky attitude.

Shadow curled his upper lip in disgust at the strange comment. He left the room with his plate in hand, driven away by Rouge's playfulness. Knuckles, after watching Shadow walk to the kitchen, comically flailed his arms around in anger.

"Is that supposed to be a compliment? You need to work on your people skills if that's the best you can come up with!"

Rouge shrugged.

"Hey, you wanted him to leave, and he left. You're welcome. You really need to toughen up, cupcake."

Knuckles opened his mouth to scream something in furious reply. The purple color in his cheeks started to fade as he breathed slowly and shut his eyes.

"Fine. Okay. I'm cool now."

"You'd better be, vegetable face." Knuckles cringed upon hearing the new nickname. "Now tell me, what happened yesterday?"

* * *

"Come on, tell me!" Amy cried shrilly. Sonic tried to break free of her grip, but Amy's hand was practically glued to his arm. "I want to know what's going on!"

Sonic stopped struggling and hung his head, defeated.

"Well, you asked for it," he mumbled. "Amy, the humans have a new leader. He says he's trying to find a way for us to get back home."

Amy tilted her head, confused.

"Why would everyone be so edgy if this guy is trying to help us?"

"That's the thing: he hates us. One wrong move, and we could probably be killed."

Amy opened her mouth, speechless. She let go of Sonic, who rubbed the spot on his arm where she had held him.

"So . . . he's trying to send us home because he hates us?"

Sonic scratched his head.

"I . . . I think so. But I think if we reason with him . . ."

"Sonic, are you crazy? Trying to reason with a guy who wants us all dead?"

"Well, yeah . . ."

Amy put her hands on her hips and scowled.

"How do you feel about all this?"

Sonic lowered his eyes to the ground sadly. He kicked a pebble that rested in front of his foot.

"I don't know, Amy. I feel like I should do what I can to protect you guys and the Charis family. If that means that I should try to talk with the new leader, then so be it."

Sonic sped off, knowing that Amy wouldn't bother chasing him. The little pink hedgehog knelt on the ground as concerned tears ran down her cheeks.

* * *

Agatha flipped through the channels on the television. No one else was sitting in the room with her, and because of this, she felt free to watch whatever she pleased. As she channel-surfed, one of the pictures on the screen suddenly caught her attention—the news channel.

The screen displayed a man in a gray suit standing at a large wooden podium. He had younger features and couldn't have been any older than forty. Cameras flashed all around him, accompanied by shouts of reporters and people asking questions, greedily hunting for answers from the man. The man lifted his hands and all the people went deathly silent. Agatha squinted at the bottom of the screen, where there was a line that explained the situation. The words on the screen almost made her physically ill.

**"Live Mobian Capture—Punishment for Causing Casualties Ensued"**

Agatha desperately called for a Mobian.

"Sonic? Tails? Amy? Anyone? Come here!"

"What is it?" Shadow stepped down the stairs, calm and unconcerned.

"Shadow! Look at this!"

Shadow stood next to Agatha and coldly stared at the television screen.

"They've captured someone?" Shadow inquired, still tranquil.

Agatha nodded, much more frantic then he was.

"It can't be someone from here, can it?" The poor girl came close to tears.

"Why don't we watch and find out?"

Shadow placed his hand on Agatha's shoulder in an awkward attempt to console her.

The man on the screen began to speak with a deep and commanding voice.

"Dear people of my country, it is with utmost delight that I congratulate my Secret Service for retrieving a dangerous and vile creature from its hiding place."

A loud cheer erupted from the crowd. Agatha's face became pale with worry.

One reporter managed to interject a question once the hall became silent.

"Mr. President, where was the location of this Mobian's hiding place?"

"The Mobian was found in an abandoned house on the streets of New York City," the president replied shortly. Agatha breathed in slight relief.

"Well, at least it's not one of ours," she said. Shadow didn't respond and continued watching the screen. The president continued to talk about the captured Mobian.

"This creature proves to us that Mobians are indeed a dangerous and destructive species. The creature, while surrounded by my men, injured many of them with powerful and unknown attacks. I couldn't bear to see my men in so much pain and therefore felt forced to reply with harsh punishment."

Shadow glanced at Agatha, who looked as though she was ready to faint.

A short figure, no doubt the Mobian, came to the podium where the president was standing, led by two men. The figure's body was entirely covered with a brown sack.

"Here is the troublesome creature," the president announced, "and it has been determined that he is to be interrogated and imprisoned." With that, the president ripped the sack away from the small body and revealed a green character with a large mohawk, a beak, yellow goggles, and red and black boots. He breathed heavily and appeared to have many bleeding cuts from struggling. Shadow widened his eyes.

"Jet, you idiot . . ." he murmured fiercely.

"Who is that?" Agatha asked, completely wrapped in suspense.

"That's Jet. If you ask me, he probably deserved what he got."

Agatha didn't reply to Shadow's violent comment.

"This creature, who claims to be a hawk, has injured good, loyal citizens of our country."

"Hey, I was trying to defend myself!" protested Jet desperately.

"Shut him up," the president ordered.

Jet held out his arms, ready to attack the president. Men dressed in black suits restrained him and held his arms back.

"I was framed! I haven't done anything wrong!" cried Jet, knowing he was sincere. "I don't deserve any of this!"

One man pulled out a taser and aimed it at Jet. The hawk immediately stopped struggling and stared at the strange device. The president, thrown off by the distraction, continued his speech.

"Good people, it is my intention to rid this world of these dangerous creatures and save humanity. We must protect our innocent people and our good country from this destructive species. Anyone against my views will suffer the same punishment as this pathetic creature."

Jet was taken behind a curtain, flailing and screaming for help. The news channel suddenly changed to a commercial on facial cream.

"This is bad," Shadow said simply, "we need to tell-" he turned to Agatha. The girl was lying on the ground, completely pale with her eyes closed. Shadow pursed his lips. "Poor thing can't handle this stuff. These humans don't know the half of it," he mumbled. He gently placed her head on a pillow and ran to get a glass of ice water.


	11. Chapter 11

"Honey, are you okay?"

The distressed inquiry came from a very nervous Mrs. Charis. Agatha opened her eyes slowly, waking up to see Shadow, her mother, and Sonic standing in front of her. She was still in the TV room.

"I'm fine . . . but . . ."

"I already told them what happened, Agatha. I apologize for splashing cold water on your face," Shadow said. Agatha ran her fingers through her bangs, which she realized were soaking wet along with her face.

"No, it's fine. Thanks, Shadow."

Mrs. Charis let out a breath, relieved.

"Oh, honey, you had me so worried," she uttered with tears forming in her eyes. Sonic shook his head.

"Shads, are you sure it was Jet?"

"If you don't trust me, ask the girl," he responded darkly, knowing that he was often suspected of lying. Sonic thrust a look of questioning at Agatha.

Agatha sat up slowly and looked at her mother, who also had an inquiring expression. Agatha pictured the frantic Mobian from the TV screen again, although she didn't want to remember it.

"I don't know exactly who Jet is," she started hesitantly, "but whoever it was had a green mohawk, goggles on the top of his head, and red boots. He had a beak, too. Is that Jet?"

Sonic shut one eye and pressed his fingers against the side of his forehead.

"Sounds like him. Was he really . . . persistent?" Upon seeing Agatha's nod, Sonic immediately sank down to the floor, assuming a seated position. "Yeah, that was definitely him . . ."

A slight pattering noise sounded as the group of four pondered the situation. Agatha looked out of the window. The sky grew dark and heavy raindrops pounded on the windowsill.

"Oh, goodness, I need to close the windows," Mrs. Charis muttered. She turned to Sonic and set a hand on his shoulder. "Sonic, dear, please come to me if you need help. I'll always be here for you."

"Yes, ma'am," Sonic replied wearily.

"Oh, and one more thing . . ."

"Ma'am?"

Mrs. Charis leaned in closer and quietly uttered,

"Do not, I repeat, _do not_ leave this house until this all blows over. Understand?"

Sonic felt crushed. His only chance at making peace was completely obliterated. Broken into pieces. Agatha and Shadow could see the disappointment that filled his eyes. Nevertheless, the valiant hedgehog had no intention of letting Mrs. Charis down by disobeying her.

"Okay, Mrs. Charis," he answered obediently. The three that accompanied the blue hedgehog decided silently that it would be best to leave him with his own thoughts and to let him be.

* * *

Gabriel, Knuckles, Tails, and Amy burst through the back door, all soaking wet.

"Crap, it's pouring outside!" Gabriel laughed, in good spirits from the adrenaline rush. Knuckles seemed to be in the same mood.

"Whoo, what a rush! It was a mad dash to get back in here!"

"Yeah," muttered Tails as he wrung out his tails, "I'll say. You just had to push me into the mud, didn't you?"

Knuckles shrugged.

"Hey, you were in my way! It wasn't my fault you ran right in front of me."

"Well, it wasn't me!" cried Tails in opposition. Knuckles smirked in satisfaction. Tails' angry protests kept Knuckles very amused.

"Ahh, be quiet, you two boneheads," Gabe scolded, ruffling both of the Mobians' furry heads, "at least Amy is being a good girl and not complaining about her hair."

Amy snapped her head up at the sound of her name.

"Suuure . . ." she said, not convincing anyone that she was totally innocent of that as she squeezed the last few drops of water from her short pink hair.

Gabriel walked out of the mud room and into the TV room from the back hallway. He noticed Sonic sitting alone on the couch, swinging one leg back and forth. He looked completely lost in his own world.

"Hey, you little blue rat!" Gabe greeted, sitting himself on the floor so he wouldn't get the nice couch all wet. "How's it going?"

Sonic smiled slightly.

"Eh, I've definitely seen better days." He gazed at the drops of water that dripped from the top of the windows to the bottom sill. Gabriel paused for a moment and then lowered his voice, remembering Sonic's previous decision.

"Are you actually doing it?" he asked. Sonic frowned in confusion. "Leaving, I mean. Will you be going tonight?"

Sonic chuckled darkly.

"Heh . . . well, there's been a minor setback," he began awkwardly, "Your mother made me promise that I wouldn't leave. See . . . something happened earlier."

Sonic grimly recounted the story that Shadow had told him. Gabriel instantly became more serious upon listening to the grave situation.

"Hmm . . . this does change things, doesn't it?" he murmured. Sonic bit his lower lip in deep thought. Thunder played a low and long song to highlight the severity and depression of the moment. Gabriel waited for the thunder to end its low note so he could speak again. "Well, you know that you have good friends here. The other Mobians are practically family to you, right? I'm sure they've got faith in whatever you choose to do. Maybe with exception of Shadow . . ." he added in a mumble. Sonic smiled, allowing his unhappiness to melt away by a bit.

"Thanks, sport. I owe you one for the pep talk."

"Hey, no problem, man! You know we're all here as your moral support group."

Sonic smiled as Gabriel ran up the stairs and complained loudly as his mother yelled at him for sitting on the rug with wet clothing. Another long and low sound came from the sky around the house, this time preceded by a bright flash of lightning. With a series of beeps and clicks, all the lights in the house suddenly fell victim to the storm and shut off. Annoyed cries rang out from everywhere in the house. Sonic chuckled.

"My support group in a nutshell," he thought, "can't go a few minutes without some electricity."

* * *

Later in the evening, when everyone except for Mr. and Mrs. Charis was asleep, the storm still raged on, this time with more power.

"Geez, will we be getting power back soon?" Peter Charis grumbled from behind a lit candle. His wife scolded him.

"Oh, hush. We've got more serious problems to worry about," she said.

Peter sighed.

"I know. Ahh, poor Sonic. He's got a lot of pressure on him at this point."

"Oh, I know, the poor kid. I offered to help him in any way I could."

Another boom of thunder sounded, playing a terrible march that seemed to last hours. Mrs. Charis caught a glimpse of a strange light passing over the lawn.

"What on earth . . ?"

She approached the window and looked up into the sky, where raindrops mercilessly splattered themselves against the glass. Over the trees, Mrs. Charis saw an odd light coming from between the clouds. The source of the light created another loud sound different than the thunder dance. Looking up, Mrs. Charis could see a large shape passing dangerously low over the treetops.

"What is it, hon?" Peter asked calmly. His wife, however, realized something that threw her into a state of complete dismay.

"Peter! Peter, it's a government helicopter! Look, it has an official logo on it! Oh, Peter!"

The frantic woman thrust herself into her husband's arms, sobbing.

"I can't let them take the Mobians! This all has to be a horrible dream, please tell me this is nothing but a nightmare!"

"Honey, please calm down! You'll wake up the kids," Peter soothed her with his charming voice and hushed her, as a mother would to her crying child. "Everything will be fine. Look, it's passing over. Look, honey, it's going away."

Indeed, the helicopter had turned and was going in the opposite direction, but this did not stop Mrs. Charis from being utterly frenzied. She sobbed into her husband's chest helplessly.

"Honey, we must protect them. I don't want to lose anyone; it would be all my fault!"

Peter didn't respond, but instead stroked his wife's disheveled hair. If there's one thing a dedicated husband doesn't want to see, it's his wife in a state of forlorn hysteria. Not only this, but now his entire family was at risk—and not just his four children.

"We won't let them take the Mobians," he said, in an attempt at comforting his spouse, "you'll see."


	12. Chapter 12

The middle of the night consisted of more storm weather and lightning. Cream lay awake in bed, whimpering as the lightning flashed and thunder rolled after it. Cheese pulled the rabbit's ears over his eyes and shivered, frightened just as much as Cream.

"Oh, Cheese, I'm so scared!"

"Chao, chao!"

"I'm going to find Mrs.-"

Lightning illuminated the room, causing the rabbit to utter a cry of fear. She pulled the covers over her face.

_Crack._

"Mrs. Charis!" Cream wailed, too afraid to move from her bed. A few moments later, she heard footsteps hurrying down the hallway. The door opened with a creak.

"Cream, what's wrong?" asked a soft voice. The little rabbit recognized it not as Mrs. Charis' voice, but as Agatha's.

"Oh, Agatha, Cheese and I can't sleep! The thunder and lightning are too loud and bright!"

Agatha hushed her and pulled the covers away from her face.

"Shh, it's all right, Cream. I'll stay here for a few more minutes. Okay?"

Cream nodded, whimpering.

For the next fifteen minutes or so, Agatha remained in the room where all of the girl Mobians slept and rubbed Cream's back. It was a technique that Mrs. Charis used whenever Agatha had trouble sleeping as a kid. Cream started to nod off, and eventually she mumbled,

"Thank you, Miss . . . Agatha . . ."

With that, the rabbit and the chao fell right asleep.

Agatha jumped at the sound of a very loud thunderclap. The sound was enough to wake up the entire house, but miraculously, it didn't. It did, however, wake up the twins. The two children started crying from their room, helplessly wailing, but not because of the thunder. Everyone knows that babies cry when they are hungry, tired, or are woken up. Agatha stood up and looked through the slightly open doorway crack. She could see the silhouette of her mother scurrying down the hallway to hush the twins. Agatha chuckled at the sight. She could distinctly hear her mother attempting to quiet the kids down. Another voice, from the same room, muttered behind her.

"No sleep for anyone tonight, I see."

Agatha turned to see a Mobian figure silhouette in front of the window. The large ears and wings made it obvious enough who it was.

"Rouge, how long have you been up?"

"I was just about to fall asleep when the little rat screamed. Now I'm wide awake."

"I'm sorry. You know Cream, she's just a kid. Kids get scared, you know."

Rouge fluttered off the bed and walked towards Agatha as another flash of lightning outlined her silhouette.

"Yeah, well . . . I was up anyway. Couldn't sleep," mumbled the bat.

Agatha invited Rouge to go to the living room with her. They tiptoed their way through the TV room and flinched as a loud thunderclap played its horrible song.

"Geez, this storm seems to be going on forever," Rouge muttered under her breath, annoyed by the weather. Agatha whispered in response.

"Yeah, it's pretty long," she replied quietly.

"Well, Mother Nature needs to hurry it up."

"Are you one of those cranky-when-I'm-tired people?"

"Gee, what made you think that?" the bat retorted. Agatha chuckled.

"Fine, you win. Do you want something to drink, Rouge?" asked Agatha as she moseyed her way into the kitchen.

_Boooom._

"I'll have a bit of cola. Maybe some caffeine ought to do me some good."

With a nod, Agatha poured the drink without hesitation and slid the glass across the counter. Rouge caught it perfectly with her past experiences at pubs in Night Babylon. "Thanks, kid."

Lightning continued to flash and thunder continued to follow. Agatha shivered.

"This isn't really natural for this time of year," she said with a trembling voice, becoming worried, "it's never so stormy."

"You know, this probably means something bad is going to happen," Rouge announced after gulping down a few sips of her drink.

Agatha didn't reply, because deep down she knew that Rouge was probably right no matter how much she wanted to argue the matter.

Boom.

"What the heck?"

Rouge's startled cry worried and alarmed Agatha even more.

"What? What's wrong?"

"Don't you see that weird light?" Rouge asked, jumping from the stool. Agatha began to quake all over, feeling the internal tremble that one gets when one is extremely cold.

"What is it?"

Rouge looked up at the sky from the glass of the window.

"It's a low-flying helicopter," she gasped, "I haven't seen one so close before."

"Frankly, I don't want to," Agatha pleaded, backing away in fright, "Rouge, it's a helicopter from the government! They're looking for Mobians!"

"How do you know that, sunshine? For crying out loud, shut up!"

"There's a logo on it! Get away from there!"

Agatha desperately attempted to pull Rouge away from the window. Rouge jerked her arm away from the window and startled the girl as she glared at her. The white bat peered up at the searchlight and squinted at it, looking as fearless as she could. The spotlight fell directly in the window, much to the girls' horror. Agatha yelped in terror while Rouge jumped back as though a small animal had been scurrying around her feet. She pulled the curtain string to release the curtains to block the window.

"Look kid, they couldn't have seen me from out there."

"It's still out there!" Agatha screamed, with panicked tears streaming down her face. "They could have spotted you!"

"No, they didn't. I guarantee it."

"Get upstairs!"

Rouge became infuriated by the girl's horrified begging. The bat whipped around and took Agatha's collar and throttled her by it.

"Get a grip, you little coward!" she commanded, scaring the girl even more. "Stop your annoying whining! I can handle myself, thank you very much!"

Agatha sank to the floor.

"I'm . . . I'm sorry, I just . . . I don't want anyone being taken away . . ."

Rouge planted her hands on her hips and watched the girl cry.

"Really, now, you're sixteen. When I was your age, I was going into pubs with gamblers and winning myself a living."

More lightning flashed. Rouge stared into the kitchen, where the outline of a figure could be seen from the doorway. Rouge cursed very loudly and immediately ran up to give the figure a powerful kick in the gut.

"Oof!"

The figure fell backwards and groaned. Rouge held a fighting stance as she threateningly advanced towards the potential enemy.

"I'm not goin' with you, punk! You'd better not be here to take me away, 'cause that ain't happening!"

A dark chuckle followed Rouge's little speech.

"Paranoid much, Rouge?"

Agatha switched on the kitchen light to reveal a black and red hedgehog sprawled out on the ground. The bat crossed her arms.

"No, just cautious."

"Well, you'll have to look harder next time, then," Shadow said, shakily standing up. "Agatha, you look like you've been through a lot."

"Emotionally, she has," Rouge interjected. "The government people are looking for us, Shadow."

"Well, what a surprise," remarked Shadow sarcastically, "You really caught me off-guard with that one."

"Seriously, this is nothing to joke about!"

"You know I don't joke around, Rouge. I know that they're out there. We'll just need to stay hidden here."

"What if they find you?" Agatha asked timidly. Shadow always seemed to intimidate her for some reason; he was just so dark and could lash out if the wrong words were said.

"We'll be ready for a good brawl," Shadow told the nervous girl. He quietly walked over to her and extended his hand to her. "Now you need to sleep. I can't possibly understand why you humans get so worked up over these things."

"Thank you, Shadow!" Rouge said, articulating her point. "I knew you'd understand!"

"Oh, shut it," he snapped. Shadow helped Agatha rise to her feet. "Go to bed, kid."

"Thanks, Shadow. I'll do my best."

Shadow and Rouge watched as the black-haired girl disappeared into the dark stairway. The white bat shook her head and peered at the closed curtain.

"Shadow, why do you suppose humans are so over-reactive?"

"Because humans are weak," Shadow stated bluntly, "emotions are too much for them to handle; that's all they seem to act on."

"What about the leader guy?"

"He's acting on his own opinions. Humans are so annoyingly petty; they think they rule everything once you give them power."

Rouge thought it would be wise not to answer to that. She knew that the humans were put under pressure, but heaven forbid she should upset Shadow in the middle of the night.

"All right. Well, I'm off to bed, Shadow. You ought to go to bed, too."

"Perhaps I will."

"Don't you dare leave this house," Rouge warned. Shadow smiled a rare smile.

"You have my word."

Rouge left to go back to her own bed as thunder rumbled outside. Shadow stood alone, staring out the window at the rain.

_Boooom._


	13. Chapter 13

"There isn't any time left to think about this, Sonic," said the deep and commanding voice, "we have to act now."

Sonic sat on the edge of his bed, staring down at the ground and listening intently to the continued thunder and pattering of rain. He looked anxiously at the digital clock. 2:45 AM.

"I know, knucklehead," he replied, trying to keep up his spirits, "we need a plan."

"Holy crap, that's all you came up with?" Knuckles interrogated harshly, " 'We need a plan' ?"

Sonic smiled enigmatically. He put a finger to his lips and pointed to the bed next to his, where Tails moaned slightly and shifted over underneath the covers. Knuckles cooled off immediately and crossed his arms.

"Quiet, knucklehead. We don't want to wake up the kiddo," remarked Sonic quietly.

_Boooom._

"Really, Sonic, we're all sick and tired of your excuses! Did you see that helicopter? Do they ever fly so low at night? Why do you think that is?"

Sonic didn't want to answer; not anymore. A sudden dizziness overcame the blue hedgehog as he could make out a flash of lightning and immediate thunderclap directly afterward. He became overwhelmed by the same emotions as the night of the Master's Emerald's transformation: fear and concern for his friends. His head swam with visions of each one of his friends, humans and Mobians alike, being carried away and shoved into the helicopter like cargo. Rain pounded on Sonic's head, falling in giant drops. The government agents in his mind harshly pushed the younger kids into the chopper and tied up their hands with rope. Mrs. Charis was in the doorway of her house, holding the twin babies, begging to let the Mobians and her children free as the government agents pulled her from the house. Even Shadow rested in a glass container, like when he had been first found. The black hedgehog's face was completely and eerily emotionless. Sonic saw a figure towering over him. It was a tall figure, with skinny features. Illuminated in the lightning, the figure's mouth was open with shrill laughter. Sonic wanted to run, but for the first time, he couldn't. His feet were bricks as he tried to move. The Mobians and the Charis family sat in the helicopter, all with emotionless expressions on their faces. The tall figure struck Sonic in the head numerous times, each time creating a loud sound and flash of light.

_Crack._

_Boooom._

_Crack. Crack._

_Boom._

Tails and Knuckles watched as Sonic woke up with a start. His eyes snapped open, and he sat upright immediately. Confused, the hedgehog twisted his head around to rid himself of the horrible visions he had seen in his head.

"Sonic, are you okay?" asked Tails gently and innocently, as any child would. Sonic shakily got to his feet and began rapidly pacing in front of the sunny windows.

"This is serious . . ." he mumbled urgently, "they're going to come soon."

Tails and Knuckles exchanged glances.

"Look, Sonic, I'm sorry that I was so hard on you last night. You didn't deserve to have that crammed down your throat any more," Knuckles apologized sincerely. "I probably caused you to pass out."

Sonic broke from his short daze and blinked quickly.

"I passed out?" he asked, not quite remembering every detail of the previous night. Knuckles and Tails nodded in unison.

"Yeah, you did."

After a small silence, Sonic started nervously pacing again. He put his hand under his chin and thought. Back and forth he went, mumbling gibberish . . . or so it seemed. Knuckles shook his head apologetically.

"This is bad," he stated, "we gotta start helping him think. I feel kinda bad for not doing anything before."

"Me too," Tails agreed, "Sonic, you should come downstairs and have breakfast with us. Maybe that'll get your mind off of things for a bit."

Sonic halted and winked at Tails. As if his problems had suddenly run away, the hedgehog went up to Tails and put his arm around the little fox's shoulder.

"You're right, buddy. A quick meal should help me think better. Thanks, kiddo!"

Tails nodded, surprised by Sonic's pleasant reaction to his suggestion. Although he liked Tails' idea, Sonic hurried out of the room and headed to the kitchen with a certain spring in his step. Knuckles gave Tails a look of absolute and utter confusion.

"What the _heck_ was that all about?"

Tails shrugged and couldn't help but leave a trace of slight concern in his eyes.

* * *

Breakfast came and went as usual. The only chatter that came up was between Mrs. Charis and her twin babies. She cooed at them playfully, attempting to make them smile. Everyone else, Mobians and humans alike, stayed completely silent. The sun teased the tense house with playful sunlight dancing through the windows of the house.

Most of the Mobians and the kids spent the morning pacing, or sitting on the couches and chairs, all deep in thought. Knuckles used his nervous energy to anxiously gobble down whatever food he could find. As he sat down with a full plate of leftover pasta in his hands, the echidna started to shovel the spoonfuls of cheesy noodles into his mouth.

"Slow down, hon!"

Knuckles jumped upon hearing the sudden voice. He scowled at the figure in the doorway.

"Rouge, I'm trying to eat. Don't scare me like that or I might choke on my food!"

Rouge chuckled and pulled a chair out with her foot gracefully.

"If you slow down, there will be less of a chance of that," she insisted, setting her knees up against the table and reclining in that position. Knuckles said nothing in response as his mouth was full of food. Rouge stared out the window and heard the revving of a car engine in the driveway. "Hear that, knucklehead?"

Knuckles looked up with an irritated look on his face. It was clear that he couldn't respond with full cheeks like a hamster. Rouge rolled her eyes.

"Someone just pulled in. I wonder who it is?"

About the same time that Rouge headed to the front door, Gabriel called to his mother.

"Mom, dad's home already!"

Rouge observed as the color drained from Mrs. Charis' face. Dread completely took over the woman's previously happy expression. Without responding, Mrs. Charis ran to the window and opened her mouth as though she was going to say something, gaping at the car.

Rouge turned to Knuckles.

"These people are so . . . unnerving," she concluded as the housewife ran to the front door, "they don't know the half of what real problems are."

Peter Charis stepped out of his car normally and pulled out his briefcase. His faithful wife rushed out the door to greet him.

Rouge watched as Mrs. Charis gave her husband a long hug. From the window, the mouths both moved after the other, each in nervous conversation. Mrs. Charis stopped suddenly, as though her husband had said something horrible, and became teary-eyed. They walked through the door and shut it behind them. Peter placed his briefcase on the floor next to the door, while Mrs. Charis called for her children in broken tones.

"Agatha! Gabriel! Come here, please!"

Agatha obeyed instantly, while Gabriel dragged himself off the couch. Once he managed to reach his parents, a trail of Mobians followed him quietly, each hiding by the door to catch a bit of the announcement. Mrs. Charis seemed too pained to deliver the news.

"Peter, could you please . . ?" she asked shakily.

The Mobians, specifically Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Rouge, Amy, and Cream, stood in suspense outside of the doorway, listening for the news.

"Kids," started Peter, "When I got to work, I saw that the inside of my store was completely trashed. The glass in front was shattered and all over, and all of the bookshelves were tipped over. Papers and books were all over the floor."

Sonic looked at Knuckles with a questioning look. In response, the echidna simply shrugged.

"My first reaction was to immediately start cleaning up, until I saw a notice on my door, which I hadn't seen there before. Here it is . . ."

Peter dug the paper out of his pocket with trembling hands and loud crinkling sounds. "Don't read this out loud, but skim it."

Sonic pursed his lips in disappointment. The news would have to wait for them.

Agatha let out a stifled cry very suddenly, and Mrs. Charis hugged her as an immediate response.

"Honey, it's okay . . . shh . . . everything's going to be fine . . ."

"Mom, they're taking over everyone's lives just so they can find the Mobians! Why can't everyone just get along?"

"Shh, I'm sorry, dear, but not everything works like that. Your father has a plan, don't worry."

The Mobians outside of the door started to leave their places one by one. Sonic silently protested by gesturing for them to come back to listen, but no one did. Frustrated, Sonic continued to listen.

"Agatha, sweetheart, the Mobians will be hanging out in the basement until this whole thing blows over. We won't let them find our friends."

Agatha sniffed and exchanged glances with her brother.

". . . We have a basement?"

"Yes, honey. The bookshelf that's built into the staircase in the living room leads to the basement. The Mobians will stay in there in case any government officials search the premises."

Agatha's expression changed to sheer panic.

"They're going to come to the house?"

"Agatha, stop. They'll probably be searching our house for the Mobians."

That was enough for the hedgehog to hear before he stepped into the mud room, surprising the Charises.

"I won't be hiding. I'm going to fight them off. All of us guys can take them, believe me."

Peter and Mrs. Charis both responded at the same time, both in protest. They spoke so rapidly that Sonic backed away in some sort of bewilderment.

"Easy!" he exclaimed, holding up his hands, "One at a time!"

"Sonic, you can't go gallivanting around like that; you don't know what these people are capable of!" Mrs. Charis protested.

"It's much too dangerous, Sonic. As man of the house, I forbid you to go anywhere."

Sonic opened his mouth to complain, but Agatha covered it, giving the hedgehog a look of warning. Sonic hung his head in defeat.

"Well, then, I guess we'll stay," he sighed as Agatha removed her hand.

The Charises disbanded from the room, each going to tell the other Mobians, or perhaps go back to bed. Sonic stayed in the mudroom. He chuckled darkly.

"Well, if I can't leave, then I suppose I have no choice but to protect these guys."

A booming sound assaulted the hedgehog's small ears. Loud whirring filled the air.

Mrs. Charis yelled frantically.

"Close the curtains! Lock the doors! Turn off every light!" Sonic shut his eyes and pictured his dream again. The blank, emotionless faces all stared at him again.

He couldn't let that happen.

Not for real.


	14. Chapter 14

The first reaction for all was to duck and cover. Amy, Tails, and Cream hid under the coffee table in TV room, arms covering their heads. Cream whimpered while she hugged Cheese and held him tight. Knuckles took Rouge's hand and dragged her to the TV room, covering her head as the house began to shake.

Mrs. Charis held her twin children while her husband gathered his family and herded them into the TV room. Without a word, he tore a bookshelf from underneath the staircase and revealed a door in the wall. The helicopter seemed to multiply as the sound grew louder and closer.

"Everyone, in here!" he screamed, sweat dripping down his face.

Gabriel, Knuckles, and Sonic led the women and children into the opening in the wall. Not one of them questioned the location of the basement in the dire circumstances.

"I'm not going!" screeched Rouge, struggling to pull away from Knuckles' grip. Knuckles pushed her forward as everyone else piled into the doorway.

"Stop being stubborn and do as I say!" Knuckles yelled in reply, "I'm not going to lose you!"

"Cut it out, Mr. Hero; I'm not a damsel in distress!"

"Fine, but you'll have to-"

A helicopter could be heard swooping over the house, coming so close it might as well have taken off the roof. Everyone upstairs covered their heads while some of the children below in the basement wailed in fear. Gabriel ran down the stairs to his mother while Peter, Knuckles, Sonic, and Rouge remained upstairs.

"Move it, you three!" Mr. Charis bellowed as another helicopter swooped overhead. Mrs. Charis screeched from the stony basement.

"Where's Shadow?"

Sonic, Rouge, and Knuckles stopped dead and widened their eyes, knowing exactly where he was. Rouge uttered softly,

"Damn you, Shadow."

* * *

Outside, unmistakable cries of "Chaos Spear" and "Chaos Control" mixed with the sounds of the flying vehicles dropping men from the sky. Yellow blasts of Chaos Energy spurted from Shadow's hands, each one followed by a minor explosion in the sky. Shadow fought off a few uniformed men by teleporting behind them and knocking them down with Chaos Control.

"You humans are scum," he shouted though the chaos, "and I will prove to you that you are worthless and pathetic!"

With a cry of effort, Shadow released a dome of Chaos Energy that circled around the men and forced them backwards.

"Don't make us shoot you, alien creature!" cried one of the men with a slight quiver in his voice. Shadow, with a sadistic smile, laughed maniacally and cruelly. The man who dared to speak started to back away slowly. Shadow continued to laugh, something that never happened. His laughter was deep and twisted, not joyful or happy, but absolutely evil. Shadow gathered Chaos Energy in his fingertips and shot a beam of it at the man, who was propelled backward with a shriek of pain. Shadow stopped his maniacal laughter and approached the man as another helicopter swooped from overhead.

"I will have my revenge, human," he said with a grin on his face, "I will avenge Maria."

The man cried in terror as Shadow gathered a ball of Chaos Energy in his hand. He laughed again.

In a flash of blue, Shadow felt himself being brought to the ground. Confused and angered by the disturbance, Shadow fought against the arms that held him.

"Let go, faker!"

"No!" Sonic yelled, "you took this too far!"

Knuckles and Rouge came out into the light from the garage, each calling Sonic and Shadow. Bullets hailed from the sky as Sonic fought to keep Shadow contained. Knuckles shoved Rouge back to the garage, thought the bat screamed and tried to resist the great strength of the echidna. Her struggles did not get very far; who can argue with Knuckles' strength?

Another helicopter flew overhead and lowered men on ropes. Radio voices sounded from every direction and surrounded the two hedgehogs. Shadow whispered,

"_Chaos Control . . ._"

The humans, like the previous time, propelled backward. The helicopters even shook as they were blasted with the Chaos Energy.

"Shadow, stop!" Sonic pulled at the stubborn hedgehog's arm, but Shadow didn't budge. Instead, the black hedgehog used his Chaos Spears to damage the helicopters and send them spiraling down in clouds of smoke. Men in parachutes ejected from the falling vehicles. Horrified, Sonic grabbed Shadow and ran to the garage. When he ran, a helicopter crashed too close to the yard in a deafening explosion. Pieces of debris flew everywhere, including into a spot on Sonic's arm. Glass pierced the hedgehog's skinny arm and created a deep gash. The smell of smoke overwhelmed Sonic's nose and filled his lungs. Coughing violently, Sonic pulled the resistant hedgehog along and into the house. The radio voices started shouting loudly from outside.

"Abort, abort! Pull back all choppers! I repeat, abort mission!"

Sonic thrust Shadow into the TV room, where the black hedgehog fell to the ground, unconscious. The overload of false Chaos Energy had done a number on the Ultimate Life Form's body.

The sound of the helicopters died down, while the smell of smoke strongly remained contained in Sonic's lungs. He coughed more violently and started to see spots. Blood from his wound stained his white glove as he tried to cover it up. His heartbeat pounded threateningly in his ears. Muffled sounds came from around him, but that's all that the hedgehog could hear before he passed out on the rug.


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N: If the last chapter was a little too intense for you, then I'm hoping that this one lightens the mood a little bit. ^_^ Anyway, enjoy, and please review!**

* * *

Shadow's eyelids fluttered. He moaned as he woke up from his state of exhaustion. When the hedgehog's eyes snapped open, Rouge came into focus, along with stone walls, a low stone ceiling, and about fifteen beds. The bat sat in a small chair and played with her hair.

"Rouge?"

"Whaddya want?" she asked as he woke, obviously not happy as she twirled her hair around. Shadow tried to get up, but his limbs felt oddly immobile. Rouge chuckled darkly as she noticed him struggling. "Yeah, don't even try, hothead. You caused too much of a scene earlier. Thanks to you, we have a smoking wreck of a helicopter right in the yard!"

Shadow looked at his arms and legs. They were duct-taped to a table, which is where he had been resting. He set his head down, sighing and shutting his eyes.

"The scene triggered some sort of traumatic emotion in my head," he explained, "it drove me mad."

"Yeah, we could hear that," the bat said, standing up and putting her hand on her hip, "and thanks to your traumatized and insane outburst, we are now responsible for the destruction of a government helicopter."

Shadow gritted his teeth.

"They were too close for my taste," he growled.

"Isn't that just like you, to make up excuses for your anger issues? You sound like that red-headed walking temper machine."

Shadow smiled upon hearing Rouge's nickname for Knuckles.

"Whatever floats your boat," he said mysteriously.

Rouge cocked her head in puzzlement.

"In case you're wondering," the bat began, changing the subject, "we'll all be rotating out to keep an eye on you."

Shadow raised an eyebrow.

"Has it occurred to anyone that I can break through this tape whenever I want to?"

Rouge crossed her arms.

"Sure, it's occurred to us, but we'll be watching you. You're like a prisoner."

"I've been one for far too long," Shadow replied snidely, "and I won't tolerate it any longer."

"Don't you dare have another outburst, hedgehog!"

Shadow didn't go wild again, but instead he merely broke each strip of tape with a slice of Chaos Energy. Rouge held up her hands.

"Now take it easy, big guy. You're basically still recovering from the overwhelming amount of Chaos Energy you used up."

"I can handle it," Shadow muttered under his breath, "and by the way, did I seriously hurt anyone?"

Rouge focused her gaze on the ground awkwardly.

"Not that we've seen yet, no."

Shadow pursed his lips.

"If I did, that should teach them to mess with the Ultimate Life Form."

Shadow limped up the stairs strangely. He walked with a swagger that demonstrated his weakness as he ascended. Rouge hastily followed him up the stairs and out the little door.

* * *

"Please don't kill me!" screamed a delirious voice. Sonic stood in front of the chair in the dining room and watched as a government officer struggled to break free of his rope bonds.

"We aren't going to kill you," Sonic replied calmly and with a smile. Knuckles crossed his arms and started tapping his foot in annoyance.

"For the last time," he muttered angrily. The man continued to resist against the ropes that held him down.

"What are you going to do to me?" he asked, distraught.

Sonic shrugged.

"Eh, I dunno. We might feed you, maybe read you bedtime stories with the kids . . ."

"Enough! I know what your plan is, Mobian! You're going to kill me because I came for you!"

Knuckles threw his head back, groaning loudly with an air of vexation. He took the man's shoulders and throttled him.

"Shut . . . up!" he yelled, "The only reason someone might kill you is if you keep talking!"

This was enough to shut the man up. He whimpered a little, shaken by Knuckles' outburst, and hung his head. Knuckles cracked a grin, satisfied with himself.

"Nicely done, knucklehead," Sonic said gratefully. Knuckles shrugged.

"Hey, it's no big deal. Shake the guy a bit, and they do whatever you want."

"A-hem . . ."

The clearing of the throat sound came from the doorway. Shadow stood there and kept his arms limply at his sides. Knuckles and Sonic widened their eyes, alarmed that he was out of the basement.

"Shads, get back downstairs!" Sonic cried.

"Take it easy, he's not here for major destruction," said Rouge, who emerged from the doorway behind Shadow, "Just give him a chance to apologize."

Shadow limped his way into the dining room and recognized the man as the one he had threatened before. Unfortunately, the man also recognized Shadow, and burst into a sudden state of hysteria.

"Get away from me! Go away; let me be! Out! Please, please don't hurt me! Don't hurt me!"

"Holy crap, get a grip, man!" Shadow stated sharply as he slapped the frantic man across the face. The man shivered as Shadow came closer and knelt down on one knee.

"What do you want from me?" the man inquired curiously and nervously.

Shadow glared at the officer and set his voice a low growl.

"I'd like to apologize for my previous threats," Shadow said smoothly, "and I promise I won't hurt you anymore."

"Yeah, right! I know your kind," the officer hissed, "your promises are nothing but a bunch of lies!"

Shadow stood up and gave the man a glare mixed with a look of disgusted pity.

"They've been brainwashed," the hedgehog concluded. "I've seen it before. These people were told too many times that we're dangerous, and it's been drilled into their heads like they've been raised on that belief."

Sonic exchanged glances with Knuckles.

"That's a good point, Shads, but what are we going to do with him?"

Shadow grinned smugly.

"We'll have to keep him here until this unsettling episode comes to end."

On that mysterious note, Shadow hobbled away and into another room, leaving Knuckles scowling at Rouge.

"Well?"

Rouge blinked, puzzled.

"What? Why the stare? Is my radiance too much for you to look away from?"

Sonic stifled a chuckle as Knuckles nearly blew his top.

"You let Shadow out when we told you specifically not to?! What's the matter with you? Can't you follow simple directions for more than two minutes? He was your responsibility!" he yelled, flailing his arms in rage. Rouge backed off slightly.

"Hey, he didn't hurt anyone, and quite frankly, I had him under supervision."

Sonic watched as Knuckles chased a laughing bat out of the dining room angrily. He yelled rapidly, as though he was speaking in another language.

Sonic looked back at the man, who's head was drooping again. The hedgehog moved closer to check if the man was okay.

"Hey, pal, you all right?"

The man breathed heavily.

"I've been taken hostage by the enemy, not knowing how long I'll be staying here. I've let down my country and my leader. What's more, the enemy is nothing but a couple of little rats like you! Do you think I'm all right?"

Sonic chuckled and wagged a finger at the man.

"No, no, no," he teased, "that's not a very nice thing to say. Maybe we can teach you manners while you're being held hostage."

Sonic stepped out of the room before the man started cursing like a sailor. When Tails passed by the room and curiously peered inside, Sonic covered up the fox's ears and led him to the TV room.

"Nothing to see here," the hedgehog said quickly.

* * *

Later that night, the TV was set to the news channel. Agatha, Gabriel, Knuckles, and Sonic watched the screen intently as the reporter rapidly described their situation.

_"There have been numerous reports of disappearing military vehicles and men from earlier today. Investigations show that the wreckage of government planes and helicopters have not yet been found or reported witnessed. Officers are still investigating the places where the military sergeants had been ordered to patrol and search. We now go live to military headquarters in the city of-"_

The TV shut off abruptly.

"Hey!"

Not only did the TV shut off, but all of the lights in the house started to flicker and dim. Everyone immediately stood up and froze in terror.

"Oh, no," breathed Agatha, "they've shut off power in our area!"

"Hah! That's ridiculous," Knuckles scoffed, ever in a state of rebuttal. Sonic chimed in with his opinion.

"If your new leader wants to get the word out of missing vehicles to prove that we're possibly dangerous, then why would he shut off the power?"

Gabriel groped his way into the kitchen, occasionally bumping into a wall or two on the way.

"Well, Sonic, they're probably trying to scare us," he said, opening a drawer in the dark kitchen and digging into it for a flashlight.

A bright blue glow came from the living room. Agatha yelped in surprise, while Gabriel jumped. Knuckles and Sonic knew all to well what the source of the light was.

"Shads, bring the light over here!" Sonic called quietly, fully aware that there were children sleeping.

"My pleasure," came the deep and sarcastic voice of Shadow from the room.

The blue ball of light moved closer and illuminated Shadow's dark expression eerily in the night. The light came from Shadow's hands, as though he was holding a ball of flame. Agatha even backed away, still slightly intimidated by the dark hedgehog and his ambitions. "Oh, and by the way, Rouge says good night, hothead . . ." Shadow said directing his attention to Knuckles. Knuckles bared his teeth.

"She's never going to stop calling me that, is she?"

"Oh, she never said that. I added that bit at the end."

The echidna contained his anger and let his face get completely red. Shadow smiled slightly.

Sonic spoke up bravely.

"Okay, everyone, we're going to have to stick together. No Mobian or human will leave the house, nor will we split up. We stay with each other. Everyone understand?"

A short chorus of "yes's" came from the small group in the TV room.

"Good. Now, I've come up with something that resembles a plan . . ."

Sonic whispered to the small group that was with him, explaining his ideas and discussing them with the little organization. When he had finished, he concluded with a profound statement.

"We're more than just a team, guys, we're family. If we believe that we can do this, then I don't think anyone can get in our way. Agreed?"

A stronger chorus of "yes's" came, and the group dispensed, each heading to bed with some sort of confidence about them. They knew that they were family, and family helps each other through tough times with support and and faith.


	16. Chapter 16

**A/N: This chapter is a tad more heart-wrenching than I had expected. Fair warning. Oh, and there's also a little bit of a certain something that I generally would NEVER put up. Brace yourselves, and please review!**

* * *

Shadow sat on the windowsill in the upstairs hallway, watching the rain outside. He glanced over to the side at the wreckage of the government helicopter. He pursed his lips grimly.

"Now I know why that guy wants us all killed," he said to himself.

The rain threw itself at the window like tiny bullets. It fell heavily and hard, as though trying to penetrate the glass. The black hedgehog sighed and leaned his head against the side of the window. Sonic's annoying voice buzzed around his head, reciting his plan.

_We're going to stay to protect the family that shelters us. We'll all be outside the house and watching for danger. No one is going to get taken away or hurt like Jet was, and no one is going to be arrested for being nice. We fight to bring justice to this world._

Shadow shook his head. Justice is such a confusing thing; people fight for it by fighting. Or was that peace? Thoughts once again clouded Shadow's constantly questioning mind.

"Shadow?"

The black hedgehog turned around as lightning flashed behind him from the glass.

"Who's there? And what do you want?"

"It's just me," said Gabriel, who slowly walked towards the mysterious hedgehog. "Shadow, what are you doing up so late?"

The black hedgehog shrugged.

"I always stay up late. It's hard for me to get things off my mind sometimes," he replied bluntly. Gabriel watched as another flash of lightning illuminated the hedgehog's dark expression.

"Is there something wrong, Shadow? I know you aren't one for talking, but if you ever need to, I'll be here."

"Something's always wrong," Shadow countered darkly, "and I appreciate this . . . concern, but I think you ought to go to bed."

Gabriel stared at Shadow dismally.

"Shadow, I know there's good in you. You know that you aren't here for destruction. Are you with us? Will you help us to protect the women and children?"

A flashback came to Shadow. Maria stood in the ARK, severely hurt. Shadow could hear his own voice calling to her as she collapsed to the ground next to a control panel.

Shadow stopped himself from going any further with that memory.

". . . I will, but only for her."

Shadow leaped from the windowsill as lightning flashed again and hurried down the stairs, leaving Gabriel more confused than ever. The young man shrugged and went into his own room as thunder crashed over the house. _I worry about you, Shadow the Hedgehog . . ._

* * *

After a restless night of restless dreams and worries, the morning started roughly.

"Well, I can't make a big breakfast because the electric stove won't turn on," Mrs. Charis said sadly, "I'm afraid you all are going to have to eat cereal for breakfast."

"Don't worry, Mrs. Charis! I'll eat whatever we have!" Cream exclaimed eagerly, not wanting to start and sort of argument.

"Thanks, honey," the housewife sighed with a sad smile, "I'm afraid we don't have all that much."

The first opportunity to carry out the plan had arrived. Sonic almost felt excited to be taking action for the first time since they had landed on Earth. He ran to the TV room, where Knuckles sat on the couch with Rouge.

"Morning, Knucklehead!" he said, perhaps a little too loudly, "today's the day, you know."

Knuckles scowled as Rouge turned to the blue hedgehog.

"Can't you see we're busy, faker?" Rouge asked, giving Sonic a cold glare.

"Well, who called in the ice queen this morning?" Sonic shot back, feeling more witty than he had been for the previous few days. Rouge scoffed.

"Excuse me for minding my own business," she huffed, "what do you need the hothead for, anyway?"

Sonic chuckled nervously.

"Heh . . . well, see, I need Knuckles to . . . to help me out with something," he concluded vaguely. Rouge crossed her arms.

"All right, I'm coming too, boys. I know your little secret."

Knuckles attempted to argue.

"You can't come, Rouge! It'll be too dangerous!"

"Hey, I've been through plenty before, hothead. Don't even try to argue, because you're arguing with a woman. You won't win!"

Knuckles looked about ready to explode.

"Well, fine! If you get hurt, then I don't want to hear you whining!"

"Gotcha, hon," Rouge stated with a wink. She flew to Sonic as Knuckles squeezed his eyes shut.

"Well, uh . . . okay, then Rouge. This will be dangerous, you know," Sonic started awkwardly. Rouge raised an eyebrow.

"Uh huh," she agreed, "I'm looking for a thrill here. We haven't had one in a while, you know."

Sonic decided that it would be best if he said nothing to her in response.

* * *

After a few minutes, Sonic had gathered up Knuckles, Shadow, Rouge, and Peter and Gabriel Charis. They huddled together in the basement.

"Now, we're going to be posted outside like soldiers. Standing watch for helicopters and stuff won't be easy, but someone's gotta do it to protect each other. If we see one, then I'll start giving orders about what we should do. Peter, did you tell Mrs. Charis that we'll be doing this?"

Mr. Charis nodded nervously.

"Yes, after arguing with her for a while last night, she finally agreed that we could do this. Just as long as we protect each other in the process, okay?"

Sonic nodded after glancing over at Rouge and Knuckles, who both gave each other looks of "Hah!" and "Oh, shut up" after hearing that Mr. Charis won the argument with his wife. Sonic nodded.

"Good. Now, we'll need to be on the alert. You never know when something might happen. No one gets left behind, and no one will get taken away. Not in my book."

The discussion came to an end. Mr. Charis and his son took some bebe guns out of a closet and loaded them up, ready for action. Sonic, Knuckles, Shadow, and Rouge announced to the kids what they were doing and what procedures they should follow if something were to happen.

Tails ran up to Sonic and hugged him tightly.

"Sonic, I want to help!" he cried, with innocent tears forming in his eyes. Sonic rubbed his head.

"Hey, kiddo, don't worry! We'll be fine! But if anything should happen to me," he whispered, kneeling down to match Tails' height, "I want you to take my place as leader. But for now, you're the man of the house. Watch over Mrs. Charis and the girls, okay?"

Tails' eyes grew large and teary. His bottom lip quivered slightly.

Sonic, as he was about to comfort his "little brother", felt a sudden force behind him.

"Sonic, don't leeeave meeee!" wailed Amy from behind him as she squeezed him around the waist. "I don't want you to get hurt!"

"Whoa, Amy!" Sonic exclaimed, not surprised by her outburst. Surprisingly, he hugged her back. "Amy, you'll probably see me again, I promise. If not, then take care of the kiddos, okay?"

Amy fought back tears in her eyes.

"Sonic, I want to come, too!" she bawled.

Sonic shook his head.

"Amy, I don't want to see you getting hurt again. Not like the night of the Master Emerald's . . . Chaos Explosion. I know you're a tough girl."

The little hedgehog sniffled a few times and wiped her nose.

"I'll . . . I'll try, Sonic. For . . . for you . . ."

Sonic gave Amy a sincere smile and then, without any warning, gave her a tiny and partially sincere peck on the cheek.

* * *

As Cream caught a passed-out Amy Rose, Shadow stood by the window and watched as everyone wished them luck.

_What's the big deal?_ he thought bitterly, _we'll take these pitiful humans on without any problems. There's nothing to worry about at all; everyone's acting as though we're going off to war._

Agatha crept over to the dark and quiet figure.

"Uh . . . Shadow?"

The black hedgehog turned slowly to the black-haired girl.

"Yes, Agatha?"

Agatha fiddled with her fingers, again very nervous about speaking with Shadow.

"Well, I . . . it's just that looked lonely over here, and I thought I'd just wish you luck."

Shadow turned to the window.

"Thanks."

Agatha, disappointed by the brief exchange, frowned and mustered some courage up. She approached Shadow and violently turned him around by the shoulder.

"Shadow, please tell me, what is on your mind? What do you think of this situation? I want to know what goes on in your head!"

Shadow tore away from Agatha's grip, seemingly appalled by her action. He looked at her for a few moments and then stared her straight into her eyes.

"What goes on in my head would take far too long for me to explain to you," he said smoothly. Agatha covered her eyes in what seemed to be a mix of fear and distress. She said nothing, but instead started sobbing. Shadow didn't know how to respond to the burst of emotion. He thought for a moment and then came closer to the girl's face. "I'll tell you this, though," he began as Agatha let go of her reddened eyes, "I'm always deep in thought because I'm trying to remember my friend, who was killed in a horrible accident."

Agatha frowned and looked at Shadow quizzically.

"I'm . . . I'm so sorry, Shadow . . ." she uttered.

Shadow shrugged.

"No big deal," he mumbled, "it's not your fault. Uh . . . thanks for wishing me luck, though."

Agatha let out a grievous laugh.

"You're welcome, Shadow."

Mrs. Charis seemed the most upset throughout the morning. She tried to fight back the tears that gathered in her eyes and hugged and kissed everyone, not just her family members, but everyone who was going out(even Shadow, whose face turned bright red).

"Boys and Rouge, please, I know you'll only be outside of the house, but please be careful. Aren't you planning on coming back inside?"

Sonic shook his head.

"We'll be outside for as much time as we need, Mrs. Charis. We want to keep you guys safe until everything passes."

Mrs. Charis' voice broke numerous times as she spoke.

"Then take this bag of food. I'll bring you some when you run low, okay?"

The boys and Rouge nodded.

"Yes ma'am."

Once Peter and Gabriel kissed the baby twins goodbye, they went outside and locked the door behind them, leaving a heartbroken group of women and children in the house, all with tears in their eyes.

"I won't let you down, Sonic," Tails said aloud, "I'll keep everyone safe, like you said. Don't worry."


	17. Chapter 17

The day was gray and dull. Mrs. Charis occasionally glanced out of the window at the men and Rouge, who stood outside and looked very bored.

"Nothing's happened all day, mom," Agatha commented as her mother sighed.

"I know, honey. How long will that last, though?"

Agatha pursed her lips as she was at a loss for words. She thought it was unfair that Rouge got to stay outside and she had brought it up with her mother multiple times that day. Of course, Mrs. Charis won that argument.

The day continued to move along, quiet and uneventful. As the sun set along a pink horizon, Mrs. Charis prepared a dinner for the ones outside and, as it cooled down, went to to care of two crying children in the next room.

"Agatha, could you please take the food outside?" called the distraught mother. Agatha called back,

"Yes, mom!"

In a few moments, the girl had two containers of steaming-hot food ready for consumption. She tiptoed out of the garage, looking to see if the coast was clear. When she saw nothing suspicious, Agatha stepped out into the darkening outdoors and quietly called for her father.

"Daddy? Dad? I've got the food!"

"Great, I'm starved!" cried a voice loudly, startling the girl. Knuckles jumped from the shadow of a tall tree and right in front of the girl. "What's for dinner, huh?"

Agatha breathed heavily and chuckled, her heart racing from Knuckles' sudden appearance.

"Well, Knuckles, there's some potatoes, and meatloaf, and some cheese . . ."

She opened the container and let Knuckles take a long whiff of the fresh food.

"Ahh . . ." he sighed dreamily. Agatha giggled again and took a quick look around.

"Where's all the other guys? And Rouge?" she inquired, afraid that they'd jump out at her in the dark as Knuckles did. The echidna, caught with food in his mouth, mumbled a slightly comprehensible response.

"They're all . . . mmph . . . out dere somewhere," he said, indicating the woods off to the side of the house with a gesture of his arms. "I know Rouge . . . was on de udder side of de house."

"Swallow your food, Knuckles!" the girl laughed. Knuckles gulped his food down and grabbed the two containers.

"Well, I guess I can take this to them, then," he said grimly, as though unwilling to share, "Thanks, Agatha, and have a good night."

"You too, Knuckles," she replied, waving as the echidna ran off into the darkness. Chuckling, Agatha headed back inside the house and locked the door behind her.

* * *

"Hello, good-lookin' !" cried Rouge when she saw Knuckles coming towards her. Knuckles' face grew hot in embarrassment.

"Now, really, I'm not all that-"

Rouge laughed heartily as Knuckles stuttered.

"Not you, hothead! I was talking about _that_."

The master thief pointed at the container and inhaled the sweet smell of food. She smiled contentedly at the aroma. Knuckles' face was hot again, but no longer in embarrassment.

"Hmph. Fine, then. I need to save some for the other guys, you know."

Rouge gave Knuckles a thumbs-up.

"No problem," she said with a full mouth, "Oh, and have you by any chance seen Shadow anywhere?"

Knuckles crossed his arms and grunted unhelpfully.

"No. Why? Does he need to be contained again?"

Rouge carefully replaced the lid on the container.

"I don't think so."

The two were silent for a minute, and then Knuckles awkwardly ended the short visit.

"Um . . . well, I'll just get this to the other guys, then. Good luck out here, Rouge. If . . ." Knuckles paused and then hesitated, "if you ever need me, then-"

"Then I'll come and pour my little heart out to you, hon. You'd better get the dinner to the other guys before they get rowdy . . . or before the food gets too cold."

Knuckles barely responded to the bat's small comment.

"Uh, yeah . . . see you, then."

"Bye, hon! Don't you catch a cold, now," she teased. Knuckles growled.

"I won't," he muttered as he walked away.

* * *

"It's about time!" Sonic said gleefully as he saw Knuckles coming by with the food. Gabriel and Peter's voices came from nearby.

"Is the food out yet?"

"Is that dinner?"

The three of them munched on the food for about five minutes as the sun's last bit of light vanished over the horizon. Stars began to appear in the sky, becoming more visible every minute. The moon rose as well, shining brightly even in its crescent sliver form. Peter lit a lantern to give a small amount of light while they dined. No one spoke while they ate, and by the time they had almost finished off the food, Sonic grunted as his mouth was full of food.

"Wait, you guys!" he said, swallowing his food, "where's Shadow? We gotta save some of this for him!"

Everyone stopped eating and looked at the meager portions left inside the container. Sonic sighed.

"Ohh, Shads ain't gonna be happy," he said in a "we're doomed" sort of voice. "By the way, where is he?"

Peter, Gabriel, and Knuckles shrugged or murmured "I don't know". Sonic snapped the lid of the plastic container back into place.

"Maybe he went off into the woods," suggested Gabriel. Sonic shrugged.

"Eh, who knows? That guy's unpredictable."

"You're telling me. Next thing we know, we could find him destroying more helicopters," Knuckles growled.

Everyone gave a false sort of chuckle, and then glanced nervously back and forth.

"We'd better go find him," Peter said quickly.

"Right," the other boys replied.

"Sonic, go tell Rouge to be the lookout while we look for Shadow."

"Yes, sir!" Sonic replied excitedly, saluting Mr. Charis. He ran off to the side of the house where Rouge sat on the step of a doorway. When she saw Sonic approaching, the bat rolled her eyes.

"Now what, dessert?" she said in salutation to the blue hedgehog. Sonic laughed.

"Hate to burst your bubble, but no," he replied. Rouge groaned.

"Well, then, what news have you, scout?" she asked, crossing one leg over the other and leaning back on the step.

"We're lookin' for Mr Tall, Dark, and Fluffy. He hasn't eaten yet," Sonic said. "Have you seen him anywhere?"

Rouge shrugged.

"Nope; I haven't seen him. Is that all you came here for?"

"Heh, I'm afraid so," answered Sonic. "Well, just keep your eyes peeled. We're going to be looking for him."

Rouge yawned and twitched her ears.

"No problem; I've got nothing better to do."

Sonic nodded his approval and sped off. As Rouge rested her hands on the back of her head and leaned back, Shadow's voice rang out from nowhere.

"So they want me to eat, huh?"

Rouge jumped up and tried to locate where the voice came from. Shadow watched and chuckled at Rouge's spinning around in search of the black and red hedgehog. He hopped down from where he sat: the roof above the step on which Rouge had sat.

"Shadow, is that what you live for? Scaring other people?"

"Heh, I'll admit that it's kind of fun," Shadow said, cracking a tiny smile. Rouge could feel his smirk, even though it was dark and she could only see his outline against the house. The thief sighed and walked closer to him.

"I think you should probably tell them where you are," she said, "after all, you heard what the faker said."

"Chances are, that gluttonous echidna probably ate all the food and there's most likely not enough for me."

Rouge snickered at the hedgehog's complaints.

"If you're hungry, hotshot, why don't you go find out if they have anything left before making assumptions?"

"If I interpreted that comment correctly, I'd say you're defending that red cretin."

Rouge scoffed, as though shocked by the very idea.

"Of course not! I'm just saying you should stop sulking around and get something to eat."

"Right," mumbled Shadow. He started to walk away when Rouge asked a very serious(highly unlikely for her) question.

"What do you think happened to Omega?"

Shadow stopped and hesitated to turn around.

"I'm sure he's doing fine. Was he with us during the explosion?"

Rouge scratched her ear, pondering.

"I don't remember. Do you?"

Shadow shook his head.

"I don't either. I'm sure that, wherever he is, the big guy's doing just fine."

"Poor guy, out on his own. He seems almost innocent for a robot, even though he's tried to kill you."

Shadow huffed in response.

"He's doing great, I'm sure," he said shortly.

"Mission accomplished. Search successful."

The mechanical voice came from somewhere in the woods. Shadow and Rouge prepared themselves for battle. Shadow let off a few sparks of Chaos Energy and Rouge assumed a fighting stance.

"Targets located."

Rouge and Shadow, although in the dark, exchanged glances with wide eyes. Rouge started to speak.

"You know, if I didn't know better, I'd say that was-"

As she spoke, a large figure erupted out of the woods, and before either one could react, Shadow had been tackled by the figure.

"Hey!" he yelled.

The figure got up and grabbed Shadow by the fur on his chest and lifted him up. Shadow, in return, shot a blast of Chaos Energy at the large figure. The figure flew backward and shot small heat-seeking missile at the hedgehog. Rouge ran towards the figure and punched him on the back. She noticed that the back of this character was cold and metallic.

"So nothing's changed, then, huh?" she said from behind the figure. The figure slowly turned around, twisting with creaks of metal. Two illuminated red eyes stared back at the bat. "Omega!" cried Rouge, "As if on cue, you big lug."

Shadow groaned and stood up, recovering from the explosion of the missile.

"More like freak coincidence," he grumbled. Omega started to charge at the hedgehog again, but Rouge countered with a screw kick that left the robot on the ground, motionless.

"What did Shadow do now, you hunk of metal?" she asked playfully.

"You know I never do anything to deserve his attacks," Shadow protested with a low voice.

"My analysis shows that it was Chaos Energy that sent us to this planet. Further analysis has revealed to me that the Ultimate Life Form had been endowed with great amounts of the energy that sent us here."

"So you're saying that you're blaming Shadow for us being here?" Rouge inquired.

"Affirmative."

Shadow and Rouge were both silent until the bat let out a short laugh.

"Ahh, isn't it great to be Team Dark again, Shadow?"

"Yeah, great," Shadow replied bluntly, as Omega charged at him again and the hedgehog ran around in large circles, "Just peachy."

* * *

**A/N: That little twist at the end came as a mild surprise to me as well as you guys. If I haven't captured his personality or speech correctly, then I apologize because this is my first time actually writing about the big guy. **


	18. Chapter 18

**A/N: This chapter is very peaceful, or, if you want to call it, boring. I hope you enjoy it nonetheless! Please review! :) **

* * *

Sonic, Knuckles, and Gabriel ran to the side of the house to find out where the explosion noises were coming from. Sonic looked around the space between the house and the woods, where there was a spot of slightly singed grass. Sonic knelt and smelled the smoke that still came from the burned grass. Knuckles and Gabriel caught up with the hedgehog, still panting and out of breath.

"What is it, Sonic?" Gaberiel managed to ask. Sonic stood up and continued to stare at the burnt grass, confused.

"There's a spot of grass . . ." he started, "and it looks like it's been fired at by something. Some sort of explosive item."

Gabriel held his bebe gun steady and pointed it towards the woods.

"The grass looks like it's been trampled here," Knuckles observed. Sonic gave him a thumbs-up.

"Good work, Knucklehead."

Knuckles grunted in annoyance.

"Well, what do you think happened here?" Gabriel pondered aloud, "Are they trying to ambush us?"

"No one's going to ambush you. Not that I've seen, anyway."

Rouge stepped out of the woods and pushed away a branch that blocked her face. Gabriel held his gun up, pointed at the woods as a precautionary measure.

"Easy, sport," Sonic said, "it's only Rouge."

"No, no, faker," Rouge said, "you mean Team Dark."

Shadow dramatically walked out from behind the tree he was hiding behind to join Rouge. Sonic scratched his head, confused.

"Uhh . . . guys?"

The sound of loud thumping metal on the ground rang out from in the woods. Everyone looked behind Shadow and Rouge to get a glimpse of what the sound was. Sonic and Knuckles got ready to fight, and Gabriel held up his gun, ready to shoot. The thumping grew louder and then revealed two glowing red eyes. Sonic and Knuckles lowered their fists, having a good idea of who was walking through the woods. Gabriel couldn't help but utter a slight gasp.

"Hey, it's all right, sport. I think I know that big piece of metal."

Gabriel, baffled by everyone's calmness, stared into the dark woods, curious. The red eyes came closer until the hulking metal mass stepped into the moonlight.

Knuckles and Sonic widened their eyes.

"Omega?" they said in unison. Rouge nodded.

"Yeah. The big guy decided to venture out here on his own, poor thing. Anyway, he's looking pretty good, and I thought he might be valuable to our little service. We explained the situation to him and everything. Whaddaya say?"

Sonic and Knuckles shrugged.

"Well, it's okay by me," the blue hedgehog stated. "What about you, knucklehead?"

Knuckles rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

"Uh . . . I guess," he replied with a shrug. Omega then focused his monotonous gaze on Gabriel, who jumped back in alarm.

"What . . . is that?" he asked quietly to Sonic.

"Him? That's Omega, an ex-robot of Dr. Eggman's."

Omega thumped closer to Gabriel and stared him straight in the eyes. Being stared by a pair of unblinking red eyes owned by a bulky robot in the middle of the night was almost too much for the boy. He trembled slightly as Omega looked him over.

"Analyzing."Omega turned to Rouge and Shadow. "Is this boy a threat?" he asked with more human-like tones. Rouge shook her head.

"Nope! He's with us," she replied cheerfully.

The robot turned the boy once again.

"Good. Gabriel Charis."

He said Gabriel's name in some sort of strange greeting. The boy ran his fingers through his hair nervously and waved shakily.

"Um . . . hello, Omega."

"Hello."

Omega moved his long fingers in a similar motion as the wave that Gabriel had offered.

"Well!" Rouge suddenly exclaimed, "I think it's about time that the rest of you boys go back to your posts. Team Dark will be right here."

The three boys went back to their posts. Sonic and Knuckles didn't seem to mind that Omega had joined their team, but Gabriel was still a bit wary about it.

"So . . . he's not dangerous?" the boy asked nervously as they walked away.

"Nah, he's a good guy! Just don't do anything to make him upset."

When they returned to Mr. Charis, who was still unaware of the source of the explosion noise, Sonic explained to him what had caused it and how Omega is not dangerous. Peter, retaining a twinge of nervousness like his son, simply nodded his head and mumbled an "okay".

* * *

The night went by with no real troubles or confrontations. Team Dark hung out together, all somehow strangely happy to be reunited. Omega told his story of how he had arrived on Earth and what he had done since then. Sonic, Knuckles, and the Charises tried their best not to fall asleep, which was extremely difficult for all of them. Shadow, Rouge, and Omega were all night owls and had no trouble trying to stay awake.

"Do you suppose anything will really happen?" Shadow inquired, "I mean, this house is in the middle of nowhere. There's no neighbors to report us, and they haven't even discovered the wreckage of the helicopter yet."

"Right. And once they do, you're the one being shipped off to prison," retorted Rouge. "You're the one who caused that trouble."

Shadow chuckled deeply, a rare occurrence.

"The government here is imbecilic."

"You got that right," Rouge muttered in response.

A short silence passed between them as they watched the stars above. The clouds were beginning to move away from the sparkling stars, thus providing a beautiful view for Team Dark.

Shadow stared at the sky. The way the stars shone down on the black hedgehog reminded him of the ARK. He saw Maria's face in his mind's eye as he gazed up.

"Isn't that nice?" Rouge asked dreamily, "There's something that I never see in Night Babylon."

Shadow continued to look up and then sat down in the grass. Rouge and Omega followed suit, both relaxing for a bit as they kept watch.

"Ahh, this is great," Rouge sighed, "do you guys agree?"

Shadow looked at the shadowy grass below him. He could barely agree because of the painful memories that he bore.

"Sure," he mumbled.

Omega responded with a short,

"Affirmative."

Rouge chuckled grimly.

"Too bad it won't last."

* * *

Sonic yawned for the umpteenth time that night. His eyelids drooped so much that he paced around to attempt to keep himself awake.

"We need someone to take shifts," he said, stifling an impending yawn. Knuckles leaned up against a tree, exhausted and ready to drop off.

"Mmm . . ." he grunted as some sort of reply to Sonic. Peter and Gabriel walked aimlessly around the yard, trying not to fall over from exhaustion. They said nothing to each other nor to the Mobians they stood guard with. The group remained silent for a while, bored out of their wits. Sonic and Knuckles couldn't even find anything to do with each other. Nothing eventful happened since Omega had appeared that night.


	19. Chapter 19

**A/N: So . . . thank you, ABCSKW for the idea. I guess sleep won't be happening tonight. Everyone else, read and review, and you'll see what I mean after reading.**

* * *

Knuckles blinked in the bright sunlight. The morning sun shone directly in his eyes as he sat up.

"Ohh, what happened?" he mumbled. Sonic stood over him and put his hands on his hips.

"I was being generous and decided to give you the day shift," he replied. "Once you dozed off, we thought that we would let you and Gabe sleep while Peter and Team Dark and I take the night shift. Now you and Gabriel can stay up while we all nap."

Knuckles blinked confusedly.

"Okay . . ." he mumbled again, still recovering from the few hours' sleep he had.

* * *

Rouge swung her legs from the roof of the house. She felt only a little tired from being awake all night, but didn't let the feeling crush her enthusiasm.

"Hmm hmm hmm . . ." she hummed, still feeling bored. "Hey, tin man, how're you holding up there?" she called to Omega. The big robot looked up at her with red unblinking eyes and tapped his fingers together.

"I am not currently in sleep mode, if that's what you mean," the robot responded monotonously. Rouge nodded her approval.

"Of course not; you're tougher than that. Shadow, how about you?"

Shadow replied with a "hmph". Rouge shrugged.

"Well, I'm glad to hear it," she retorted.

* * *

Gabriel yawned and stretched out his arms. He felt a slight tickle on his shoulder, and when he inspected it with tired eyes, he registered in his mind that there was a spider crawling on his arm. With a slight jump, Gabriel brushed it off frantically.

"The best way to start the day!" Sonic said, stifling a laugh. Gabriel chuckled.

"Thanks, you little rat."

Sonic flashed a grin, beaming.

"Aww, you're too kind," he said.

The door of the house closed with a slam. Mrs. Charis came rushing out with a tray of eggs and toast.

"Good morning, boys!" she cried, happy that the night seemed to pass without any sort of problem. "How are you today?"

"Tired," mumbled Gabriel.

"Great!" Sonic exclaimed.

"Ehh . . ." replied Knuckles, too tired for words. Mrs. Charis chuckled.

"Well, I'm glad no one's . . . oh, wait, where's Shadow and Rouge?"

"Here, ma'am!"

Rouge lowered herself to the ground as Shadow sped over with his air shoes. Mrs. Charis smiled, relieved and happy to see that everyone was present. The boys started digging in to the food while Peter gave his wife a "good morning" kiss. Once his wife urged him to eat, Peter joined the Mobians and his son in breakfast. Rouge left the group after having difficulty trying to escape the crowd of hungry men.

"Whew," she breathed after escaping with a single slice of toast, "men."

Mrs. Charis chuckled.

"You're a tough girl," she said, "and I'm sure you'll do great out here."

"Well, I can try, hon. I've been missing out on quite a bit of action lately, and I guess I want to be out here so I can get my dose of action in."

Mrs. Charis smiled.

"Tough indeed," she said.

Rouge took a bite out of her toast, gingerly chewing it so she could savor the food, considering the men had probably taken the rest of the food.

"Oh, by the way . . ." she started to say with her mouth full, "a friend of ours dropped in last night. I hope you don't mind."

Mrs. Charis frowned, suspicious.

"A . . . friend of yours?"

Rouge nodded.

"Yeah," she murmured with a full mouth, "if you see a huge robot wandering around and clomping around the grass, don't worry. He's not a threat."

Mrs. Charis kept a wary eye on Rouge, obviously still nervous about meeting this "friend" of theirs. She didn't bring up the matter and waited patiently until the men had finished with their breakfasts. In the next minute, the tray had been completely emptied, leaving nothing but crumbs and tiny bits of eggs. Knuckles let out a loud belch.

"Heh . . ." he chuckled embarrassingly, "Excuse me."

Rouge gave him a scowl while Sonic laughed out loud.

The loud and constant stomping returned, leaving the Charises paralyzed. Mrs. Charis had a good idea of who it was, and turned to the side of the house to see what was coming.

Omega emerged from behind the house, stomping towards the garage.

"Greetings."

Mrs. Charis opened her mouth as if to say something, and then closed it. After all, what does one say when she meets a robot?

Rouge flew over to the robot, trying to break the awkward silence.

"Hey big guy!" she said, "Sorry, we ate all of the food. Hope you don't mind."

"I do not mind at all."

The robot didn't say another word. He simply stood there while the silence commenced again. Sonic cleared his throat and tried to get things moving.

"Well, I'm going to start the watch again," he said. "Thanks for the breakfast, Mrs. Charis."

"It's no problem, honey," she replied. "I wish you all luck. Please be careful today, and don't let your guards down," she addressed to everyone. With another quick hug and a kiss for her son and husband, Mrs. Charis disappeared back into the house.

* * *

The sunlight of the day didn't last long. After about an hour of the watch, dark clouds formed over the house and started to rumble. Lightning flashed a few times, foreshadowing the coming of another storm.

Team Dark sat on their side of the house, bored and still barely tired. Well, all except Rouge, who yawned numerous times.

"You guys want to take the night shift tonight?" she asked, stifling a yawn. Shadow shrugged and Omega uttered a simple and mechanical,

"I have no problem with that."

Silence was a key element that morning. No one really spoke to each other, and no one really had anything to say.

Until the pulses happened.

Shadow and Omega both shuddered or flinched at the same time, startling the bat.

"Hey, what's happening?" she asked, confused.

Another spasm from both of them. Shadow clenched his teeth as if her were in pain, while Omega had small pauses and sputtering sounds coming from his interior. Rouge cautiously stepped over to them and inquired softly what was going on.

"Some strange . . . Chaos Pulses . . ." Shadow mumbled, still shuddering from whatever it was that had sent him into this state. Rouge looked at Omega, who was beginning to let off slight electronic sparks from his exterior.

"But . . . how? Where are they coming from?" she gasped, trying to locate any source of the energy nearby.

Shadow groaned and then spazzed again, jerking his arms around in pain, as though he were having a seizure.

"This isn't . . . natural . . ." he breathed, trying to tough out the pain, "someone is messing—_ahh_!"

The sudden cry caused Rouge to retreat back in partial terror. Shadow's body began to glow with an eerie greenish tint. Omega's did the same and his eyes turned green as well.

Shadow collapsed to the ground, grunting in pain and trying his hardest not to scream.

"They're trying to . . . make their own . . . Chaos Portal," he said through the pulses. When he looked up, his eyes were also illuminated with green.

Rouge gasped and jumped backwards, now stiff with fear.

"Guys?" she said, with a slight quiver in her voice.

Shadow and Omega both looked at the bat with zombified eyes. The pulses again sent them into spasms, and became more frequent. Shadow let out low moans and Omega sputtered more. Rouge watched as both of them trembled from the force of the energy and became somewhat possessed by it. She tried very hard to breathe and think.

"Okay, they're definitely messing up the Chaos Energy field," she thought, "and it's affecting these two. The pulses are causing their systems to fail, and is throwing them into seizures and possible possession!"

She made her conclusion with a terrifying note.

The pulses stopped briefly, leaving Shadow and Omega about to return to their natural state. But just as Rouge approached Shadow, they started again and Shadow grasped the bat's shoulders and yelled out loud. The yell was so terrifyingly unrealistic and agonized that Rouge's reflexes got the best of her as she kicked Shadow in the legs with a frantic yell and broke free of his grip. Shadow fell to the ground and stared straight up into the darkening sky with a dead look in his eyes. Rouge turned her gaze to Omega, whose metal body was hunched over, and the head turned with a creaking and sputtering sound to stare at the bat.

"Where the hell is this coming from?!" she cried hysterically as Shadow looked at her with the same gaze as Omega.

A long pulse followed. Shadow screamed again and covered his face with his gloved hands. Omega lifted his metallic claws and, since he couldn't scream, repeatedly stated,

"_ERROR. ERROR._"

Shadow's screaming continued, until his entire body shivered uncontrollably and eventually, it fell completely rigid. Omega's followed the same pattern and he, too, collapsed.

Rouge inhaled and exhaled slowly. She almost ran away, but she was too dignified of a woman to do such a thing. Instead, the bat prodded at Shadow's head until he groaned and opened his eyes again.

"Uhh . . ." he moaned.

Rouge jumped into a fighting stance. Upon closer inspection, the bat realized that Shadow's eyes had returned to their normal blood-red color, as did Omega's.

Both of them stood up with wobbly legs and looked at Rouge's panicked expression with curiosity.

"Why the staring?" Shadow inquired sincerely yet annoyed.

Rouge widened her eyes and watched as the sky opened up and became completely sunny again.

* * *

**A/N: So ABCSKW suggested that I listen to Mephiles' theme while writing this chapter so I could produce something creepy. Needless to say, I listened to a full half hour of that song and I think I succeeded in creating something somewhat potentially terrifying. O_o Aaaaaand now I have Mephiles' Whisper stuck in my head. **


	20. Chapter 20

**A/N: Hey, everyone. I want to apologize for taking longer than usual to update. Real life kicked my butt this week, and I'm still trying to recover from that. Also, since I haven't done any real writing in the past few days, this chapter may not be as well-written. Anyway, here's the twentieth chapter, and I'm kind of excited because this is one of the only parts that I remember from the dream that I had. Enjoy, and I encourage you to review! :)**

* * *

When Rouge had finished explaining in a shaky voice why she was staring at Shadow and Omega, Shadow looked at the ground with some sort of thoughtful yet outraged expression.

"Those humans are toying with Chaos Energy like it's some kind of simple matter," he whispered, "if they continue to send out pulses so violent like that, more humans could be seriously hurt. And who's going to get blamed for that?"

Rouge curled her lip.

"We are," she replied.

"Guys! Hey, guys!"

Sonic appeared before Team Dark in a flash of barely visible blue. He panted and seemed panicked as Rouge was.

"Did you . . . I mean, the pulses . . ?"

"Yes, we got hit by them! Well, these two zombies did," Rouge replied, pointing to Shadow and Omega. "Could you feel them?"

"A little," Sonic said, "and Knuckles started spazzing out like crazy."

Shadow growled and stared up into the sky. He gazed at the thinning clouds and blue backdrop that fell behind them.

"The humans are getting dangerously close to causing more trouble for themselves," he stated, turning his red eyes to Sonic. Rouge shuddered, reacting to a violent chill that erupted from her back.

"What are we going to do if and when that happens again?" she asked nervously. Sonic rubbed his chin.

"Well, we could just keep those three in the basement until everything passes over," he suggested, "that, or we could just leave them alone."

"I am not going through that nightmare again!" Rouge cried, waving her hands in front of her, "There is no possible way I would stand through that anymore."

"What exactly happened over here?" Sonic inquired.

Rouge described the incident in detail. She explained the green eyes, the expressions that resembled Mephiles, and the horrifying screams that Shadow let out.

"I never scream," Shadow insisted, crossing his arms. Rouge gave him a murderous look.

"You wanna bet?" she challenged. Shadow shrugged indifferently.

"I suppose I'll believe you," he replied blankly.

Rouge narrowed her eyes.

"What did those pulses do to you?"

"Well, for starters, they gave me a very bad headache," Shadow said, suddenly clutching his temples and massaging them. Rouge stepped away from him, leaving a slight amount of distance between them.

Sonic shut his eyes and put his thumb and forefinger on each one of his eyes.

"We'll have to think about this later, guys," he said.

Rouge threw her hands up in the air.

"What? We can't just sit here and let these guys keep having seizures! What if something serious should happen to their brains?"

"Oh, so now you care?" Shadow mocked, smugly grinning. Rouge backed down from that comment quickly.

"Well, Knuckles was affected. Can't have my boo getting possessed, now, can I?"

Shadow scoffed with disgust.

"Hmph."

Sonic's expression became one of anxiety.

"Guys, do you hear that?"

A moment of silence commenced. Everyone's(minus Omega) ears twitched as an approaching sound came closer. Three helicopters appeared from over the trees, all flying dangerously low.

* * *

"They're back," Peter breathed, looking up and letting his chest rise and fall heavily. "Dear God, they're here."

"No time to stare, pa," Knuckles shouted, pounding his fists together. "I'm ready for this action."

Sonic ran back to where they were standing and took Gabriel by the shoulders.

"Okay, sport, you know the drill, right?"

Gabriel nodded frantically and tried not to look terrified. Sonic flashed him a thumbs-up.

"You've got this, sport. We'll all be right here."

Meanwhile, Rouge, Shadow, and Omega stood in a triangular shape as the metal beasts began to swarm, hungry for prey. Team Dark readied themselves for battle. Shadow snarled and let loose some Chaos bolts from his hands and into the ground, with the intention of appearing threatening. Omega pinched his fingers together and let sparks fly from them. Rouge fluttered her wings and smirked.

"This'll be easy."

Three helicopters appeared low to the ground and whirred above the trees and the house. They were close enough to cause quills to fly like hair behind the Mobians and clothing to fly about with the force of the wind. All of the Mobians knew what they were supposed to do. The humans did too, but were not as confident as the Mobians were.

"I feel like a soldier entering his first battle," Gabriel said, both awed and terrified by the feeling. His father stood close to him and prepared his bebe gun.

"That's what this is, son. We have to fight to keep everyone safe. I'll be right here with you."

Team Dark encountered the lowest- flying helicopters first. They came right over their heads, zooming by with frightening potential. They all moved out of the way and scattered as one started to land on the yard.

"We can't let them get to the other side or inside the house!" Rouge screamed over the deafening sound of the chopper's blades.

Shadow nodded and began to shoot bolts of Chaos Energy at the helicopter, hoping to cause some sort of damage to it. Sounds of the radio voices erupted from inside as they felt the blasts of Chaos Energy hitting their vehicle. No one had come out of the helicopter yet, which gave Rouge a quick idea.

"Omega, fuse the doors shut!" she yelled as the blades slowed down.

"Affirmative."

Omega used his claws to create a blowtorch effect as he brought it closer to the door of the vehicle. Using hyper-extensive arms with his blowtorch fingers, the helicopter's door started to fuse shut with the heat. Rouge celebrated as Omega finished up the job.

"Yes!" she cried, pumping her fists in the air.

Loud banging came from behind the door and eventually there came the sounds of gunshots. Shadow reacted instantly by grabbing Rouge and pulling her behind a thick tree. She wrenched her arm from his grip.

"What can they do to us if they're stuck in there?" she asked calmly.

Shadow took Rouge by her arm and jerked her back around to face him.

"May I remind you that there's two more government helicopters?" he said, pointing to the other two that swarmed overhead.

Rouge stared at them and smiled grimly.

"Let's go with the others," she said.

* * *

Sonic, Knuckles, the Charises, and Team Dark met up next to the garage.

"There were three! Where's the third one?" Sonic asked Shadow over the noise.

Shadow chuckled.

"We took care of it already."

This comment alarmed Sonic, but he had no time to state his feelings about it because one helicopter started lowering men down from it.

"There they are!" cried the overhead voices.

Everyone formed a circle, looking up to the government agents all descending from the choppers.

"Okay, guys," Sonic said dramatically, "you all know what to do."

With that, they all sprung into action.

Sonic spin-dashed into a few of the men, bouncing off of them and knocking some of them out. Knuckles did what he does best: he threw his fists into the faces and chests of his opponents, mostly trying to knock the air from them. Shadow started yelling "Chaos Spear" and "Chaos Control" while flashes of yellow and white flew from his hands and hit his targets. Rouge used her wings to the best of her ability, flying above the men and sending them flying with her screw kicks. Omega didn't need to do much fighting, seeing that the guards were looking with fright at the hulking metallic figure.

The Charises hesitated to do anything. Mr. Charis aimed his gun and shot into the crowd of agents. One collapsed, but was not dead.

Gabriel panicked.

"Dad, I can't shoot these people!" he said, overwhelmed by the morality of the situation. The only one who heard his desperate cry was Shadow, who came close to him with a look of murder in his eyes.

"You're backing down already?" he growled.

Gabriel shook his head.

"No, it's just—there has to be another way!" he shouted.

Shadow ceased shooting Chaos Energy from his hands and hovered a few feet above the ground, coming at eye level with the boy. He suddenly struck him in the face, sending Gabriel reeling backwards and his gun to the ground.

"You're an awfully weak soldier," Shadow taunted, picking up the boy's gun. "There's no mercy in this battle. Fight, or go back inside and tell your mother that you're too afraid to protect her."

Gabriel watched as Shadow ran away with his gun and started shooting into the crowd of men dressed in black uniforms. He thought about what Shadow had said and, now that he had no weapon, ran through a bullet storm and into the garage to find a large tool that would effectively knock out the agents.

Rouge and Knuckles ended up fighting together. If a man came running to grab Knuckles, the white bat would swoop in and take him down. Knuckles sent the enemies flying with his massive fists and, with cries of effort, would pick up large and heavy items and whack the men with them. Rouge flew up into the air and charged at a man who tried to sneak up behind Knuckles. The man, as Rouge saw, looked her in the eyes with a cold, blank stare, and aimed his gun at her. She only had time to widen her eyes mid-charge before she heard the crack of the gun.

The white bat hit the ground hard. Knuckles, of course, was the first to see her fall.

"Rouge!"

Knuckles slugged the man behind him and ran to the open space where Rouge had fallen. Her eyes were open; she hadn't been shot anywhere severe.

"Leave me alone!" she yelled, standing up shakily. Upon closer inspection, Knuckles noticed a bloody tear in her wing, where the bullet had gone through. "It's only a little cut."

"Don't you dare do that again!" Knuckles shouted.

Rouge tried to fly and hit the concrete ground again. Knuckles stood close to her and tried to hold her steady.

"Stop it! I'm fine!" she protested. The duo continued to fight, though Rouge was a bit wobbly on her feet. Flying wouldn't be happening for the remainder of this battle.

* * *

Sonic spin-dashed everywhere until he couldn't see any more standing guards.

Once all of the men from both helicopters were lying down on the ground, everyone gathered on the side of the house. Knuckles was the last to appear with Rouge, with her arm flung over his shoulder. She seemed limp and unmoving.

"Rouge, what happened?" Shadow asked, looking her over for wounds. When he saw the hole in her wing, Shadow shook his head.

"Great."

"Guys, it's not a big deal," Rouge insisted, standing on her own, "it's only a tiny little tear. I'm fine."

"But you're not going to be able to fly anymore," Sonic commented.

Peter and Gabriel Charis appeared extremely shaken by the turn of events. Neither of them talked.

Sonic approached Gabriel.

"How're you holding up, sport?" he asked gently. Gabriel looked down on Sonic with a blank expression.

"It's hard to say," he mumbled.

It was clear that Gabriel had been traumatized by the sight of the entire scene. Sonic and Knuckles felt sorry for him, while Shadow simply scorned him with silence. Everyone stared out at the driveway, where there was a crowd of knocked-out agents. Knuckles snarled as he gently lowered Rouge to the ground.

"Now what?"


	21. Chapter 21

The great battlefield was left untouched for another hour as everyone puzzled over what to do.

"Not to mention that helicopter still on the side of the house," Rouge commented drily.

Sonic snapped his fingers in sudden realization.

"That's it!" he cried. The helicopter that had also been left untouched remained somewhat intact from the previous battle. It sat near the woods behind the group, only slightly crumpled up and with bent blades. Shadow had done quite a number to it single-handedly. "We need to start putting these guys into that helicopter. Omega, you can fix the door so it doesn't open."

Everyone stared at the blue hedgehog, all hesitant to start the task. Gabriel interjected a question.

"What if one of them wakes up?" he asked nervously. Sonic shrugged.

"Easy. All you have to do is knock 'em out again."

"But what are we going to do with all of these people when we're done? My family could be arrested for all this!" said Peter with high levels of concern in his voice.

Sonic shut his eyes and smiled.

"We leave them in there," he said, indicating the helicopter wreckage, "and then, once we've finished, we'll just have to take their weapons and tell them that their leader's gone and he put us in charge. Then we send 'em home."

"Are you sure it's going to be that easy?" Knuckles growled.

"Hey, I'm just making this up on the run," Sonic replied.

Everyone exchanged uneasy glances. Even Sonic wasn't all that comfortable with his idea, but if he appeared too tense, then everyone would become very tense. Needless to say, everyone nervously started to head over to the battlefield and collected the men.

Knuckles was delighted when he picked up a man with ease and the man started to rouse from his knocked-out state. The echidna decided to have some fun and stared the man straight in the eyes until he was fully aware of his surroundings. Once he gazed into Knuckles' wide purple eyes, the man screamed. Knuckles laughed and then socked him in the head. The man's body went completely limp again in Knuckles' strong arms. Knuckles couldn't help but chuckle as he easily placed more men into his arms and ran them over to the helicopter wreckage.

Rouge wasn't nearly as strong, especially when she didn't have the ability to fly. She stood next to a man and pondered how to get him to the helicopter.

"This just sucks," she muttered angrily, frustrated by the tear in her wing. She knew it would heal, but she wouldn't be able to fly for a while. "How am I gonna get this sucker into the chopper?"

She looked over at Knuckles, who was piling the bodies on his arms without a problem and taking them back to the wreckage. Then, she took a glance at Shadow, who was using Chaos Control to teleport the men inside the helicopter. When she saw Gabriel staring at a man on the ground as she was, Rouge walked over to him, trying hard not to flutter her wings.

"Hey, kid!"

Gabriel turned his concentrated gaze to Rouge.

"Yeah, Rouge?"

Rouge leaned her body weight on Gabriel's abdomen.

"What say you to us working together for picking up these poor saps?"

Gabriel frowned.

"What do you mean?" he carefully inquired. Rouge gestured to the man lying front of them.

"We have to get these guys over to the helicopter somehow. I'd be able to do it so much better if my wing wasn't in pain."

"Well, what do you want me to do?" Gabriel askedd sharply, still edgy from the trauma he'd undergone. "I'm just trying to figure out how the heck to pick them up. I'm no Knuckles, after all," he added as he pointed to the red echidna, who knocked another man out by giving him a good blow to the head.

"But you're still a strong boy," she said playfully, "and I think that we can do this together. You lift the guys and stick them in that cart," Rouge cast her gaze on a yellow metal cart meant for a tractor-mower to pull behind it, "and then I'll take the cart and we can let the big guy unload there."

Gabriel opened his mouth to say something, when Sonic's voice rang out.

"Hey, Shads! Can't you do that with all of them at the same time?"

Everyone ceased their work and looked at Shadow, who froze in midair. He said nothing for a moment, and then all of the bodies were gone in a white flash as he whispered, "Chaos Control".

"Nice job, Shads!" Sonic flashed the descending hedgehog a thumbs-up. Shadow said nothing in response. He simply frowned as he harped on the fact that the faker thought more quickly then he had.

Omega began to "glue" the door of the wrecked helicopter without a word. He fused it to the side with extreme heat.

Rouge raised her eyebrows and stared at the empty driveway.

"Well, never mind," she stated bluntly as she strutted away from the surprised teenager.

* * *

Night fell once again over the horizon. The sun set in a bright array of color, but it didn't last. Mrs. Charis brought out dinner to everyone who was standing watch. She was very distraught as Peter recounted the story of what had happened earlier. As they finished their food, Mrs. Charis went back inside after giving each of them, even Omega, a hug.

"You've all made me proud," she whispered, "but please don't get hurt. Rouge, will that heal all right? I can bring out some bandages or something."

Rouge glanced over her shoulder at the scabbed hole in her wing. She shrugged.

"No ma'am, that won't be necessary," she said, "but thanks for the offer."

Mrs. Charis gave them all another look of worry, but smiled slightly as Sonic winked at her.

"It'll all be great," he said, hoping to establish in her a feeling of some comfort.

The woman hurried back inside the house, but only after bringing out blankets and pillows for them. Tails, Amy, and Cream all helped to bring out the bedding. Sonic gave Tails a "big brother" squeeze, while Amy did the same to Sonic, except not quite a "big brother" squeeze.

"Soniiiiic!" she cried happily. Sonic let go of Tails and awkwardly tried to pry Amy away from him.

"Yes, I'm all right, Amy," he said, attempting to remove the girl's grip. Tails whispered something in the hedgehog's ear.

"She's been talking only about you for the past few days," he said.

"Gee, you think that's surprising?"

"Not to mention she's watched you sleep."

Sonic widened his eyes and grimaced nervously.

"Heh . . . okay, Amy, I uh . . . I wouldn't want you to stay out here much longer . . . it's dangerous, you know."

Amy ceased hugging Sonic and blushed.

"You're concerned about my safety!" she exclaimed gleefully. Mrs. Charis beckoned the kids to go back inside. "Coming!" yelled Amy. She squeezed Sonic once more and then skipped back inside. Tails waved calmly as he stepped back into the garage.

"Good luck, Sonic."

"Thanks, kiddo."

Sonic winked at Tails as the fox shut the door behind him. He sighed and then gazed up at the stars that were beginning to emerge.


	22. Chapter 22

**A/N: Okay, I know that a lot of chapters in this story have been focused on my all-time favorite Sonic character, and this chapter is not any different than those. :/ Things are about to get heated, so brace yourselves . . . and please review! :)**

* * *

Team Dark lounged about the side of the house, where the helicopter with fully awake and conscious people still rested.

"Why is that still here?" Rouge inquired as she smoothed out her hair. Shadow grunted.

"Well, they've probably called for backup," he said serenely.

"Hmm . . . shouldn't that be a bad thing?"

"Perhaps they've called for backup and they are waiting for all of us to sleep," Omega remarked.

"Good point, big guy, but I don't know."

Rouge and Omega discussed possible scenarios that could be occurring or might happen within the helicopter, while Shadow decided to take a nice walk around the house darkened with shadows. The stars were out again, taunting the dark hedgehog with their brightness. Shadow thought deeply about everything. The dictator, the agents, the helicopters, and, occasionally, back to Mobius. He didn't exactly miss home, but he didn't like Earth, either. It was hard to decide where he belonged in the universe. Maybe he just belonged back on ARK.

A sound came from the wall of the house. Before Shadow reached the side where Sonic and Knuckles were, he had come to a door in the back. The knob started to turn, causing Shadow to jump slightly. Muffled shouts could be heard from behind it.

The door swung open, revealing a tall figure shoving a shorter one through the door. Shadow stood completely motionless, watching as the figures forcefully emerged from the door.

"He'll ask you some questions, but I think you'll be able to manage," said a rough voice, presumably the taller one, "you're a big girl."

A muffled sound erupted from the other figure. From what Shadow could deduce, that one had been tied up and gagged, and now was being dragged out of the house. When the two figures stumbled down the stairs and got into the grass, Shadow cleared his throat and said,

"Hello, there."

Both figures jumped, and the tall one yelped in surprise. Shadow menacingly stepped forward and created a ball of light with his hand, holding it up to his face to illuminate it eerily.

"What's going on?" he asked quietly, "and who do we have here?"

The muffled voice came again, this time trying to shout something. The tall figure slapped the shorter one suddenly to shut her up.

Shadow brought the Chaos light closer to the faces of the figures, who he realized were the guard that he had threatened during the first attack, and Agatha, who was tied up.

"So this is what you've resorted to, then?" he asked. The uniformed guard chuckled madly.

"I'm just doing my job," he stated, "I'm taking this girl in because she's a witness. She knows the damage that you've done, and she's going to tell Dictator Edric all about it."

Shadow closed his eyes in thought.

"Ah, so that's his name."

Agatha's strangled cries came again, sounding more frantic and urgent than before. Shadow calmly came close to the guard.

"So what do you plan on doing with her when you've finished with her?"

"Throw her in jail. Or maybe we'll just give her a few . . . heh . . . finger pricks until she talks if she's not cooperative."

Shadow nodded slowly.

"I see. Well, I'm sorry to burst your bubble, but I doubt you'll be able to get past me."

The guard tossed his head back and laughed out loud. He threw Agatha to the ground and pulled a knife from his jacket.

"This could potentially kill you. That's what the boss wants, and with her captured, I'll get a bonus!"

Shadow chuckled and stroked his chin.

"I'm afraid you're a bit unaware of what I'm capable of," he said smoothly, "you're not very good at dealing with Chaos Energy, are you?"

The guard looked at Shadow, puzzled.

"Chaos . . . what?"

Shadow's eyes lit up to a bright white suddenly.

"You must not remember. I'll show you again."

Panicked, the guard brandished his knife. Shadow, through his illuminated eyes, could see the shaking hands and labored breaths. With a flick of his wrist, Shadow teleported the knife from the guard's hands to his own.

"Now, then," he said, throwing the knife into the woods, "you were saying?"

The guard frantically pulled a pistol from his inside pocket and pointed it at Agatha, who audibly gasped from behind her gag.

Shadow widened his eyes and tried to fight back a flashback. Shouts came from every direction and Maria ran to the control panel to pull a switch. Shadow banged his hands against the glass of his stasis tube.

"Maria!" he pleaded, crying out only her name. The girl turned and gave Shadow a pained yet gentle smile. Shadow watched helplessly as a man in G.U.N. attire pointed a gun at her and pulled the trigger. The hedgehog heard himself cry out in pure horror as he saw her body collapse to the ground and a small puddle of blood formed beneath her.

"Maria!"

Still conscious, Maria reached for the switch that she had been trying to pull and gave Shadow one last look of weak happiness.

Shadow's flashback ended as he remembered the container falling down to Earth. The guard kept his gun pointed at Agatha, who stared at Shadow in confusion and partial hysteria.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," Shadow said slowly, his voice trembling slightly. The uniformed soldier laughed.

"If I did, I could easily blame you and your friends," the man countered.

Shadow saw red as the man laughed at him, taunting the hedgehog's pain and grief for Maria. The hedgehog balled his fists at his sides and tried not to let his temper loose like Knuckles.

"Maybe we can reach a deal," offered Shadow as politely as he could.

The man lowered his pistol and looked blankly at the dark hedgehog.

"I wouldn't accept any deals of yours," he replied. Shadow, seeing that the man wouldn't cooperate, narrowed his eyes.

"You take me and let this girl go free; I'd be useful to you and your dictator."

The offer was out there, waiting for the highest bidder to accept it. Agatha's yells came again, screaming in muffled distress and pleading Shadow not to do it. The man pondered this and pensively tapped his foot.

"I don't know . . ." he mumbled.

Agatha, the poor thing, couldn't stand the tension and silently tried to slip her hands out of the rope. She had success in doing so and was then able to remove her gag and quietly sneak a few steps back where Shadow had thrown the knife. Once she had retrieved the knife, Agatha crept up to the man and knocked the pistol out of his hand. Before the guard knew what was happening, the girl gathered all the strength that she could find and held the man steady as she brought the knife close to his throat.

"He won't be taking anyone," she said, surprisingly threatening for her.

Shadow raised his eyebrows, impressed yet mildly alarmed by her sudden and violent approach to the situation.

"Careful, Agatha," he said warningly.

The guard, with a cry of effort, twisted Agatha's wrist with the knife and pulled her by her collar.

"Young lady, I hereby place you under arrest for treason."

Agatha appeared confident as she fought against the man, but she had little success in trying. The soldier pinned the girl's hands behind her back and wrencheed the knife from her hand. No one, not even the guard, was prepared for the moment when he drove the knife into the girl's shoulder blade with a blazing and wild fire in his eyes.

Shadow's eyes widened at the sight of the inhumane stabbing and the sound of Agatha's screech. He always knew that humans were cruel and killed each other for no reason, but knowing someone as innocent and harmless as Maria being hurt by someone with high intents of murder made him furious.

Agatha pursed her lips and shut her eyes as she felt around the wound for the knife. She found it and removed it painfully, starting to see spots. The girl glanced at the blade and, even in the dark, saw it covered in blood, and simply couldn't handle the sight without passing out.

Shadow ran to her and took the knife from the girl's hand, trembling with fury as he looked at the darkened spot on the blade.

"You . . . sick _son of a bitch!_" he screamed, dropping the knife and starting to lunge for the man.

The soldier, realizing what he had done, stared at his hands with fright and then at the charging and angry hedgehog. He screamed and threw himself to the ground, sobbing and burying his face in the grass. The soldier held up his hands in attempt to stop Shadow's burning rage.

"No, no, no!" he yelled, "no, I didn't mean to!"

Shadow stopped, panting heavily, and grabbed the man's collar, revealing his panicked face.

"You know very well what you did, you disgusting bastard," he breathed, "and now, you're going to pay for that."

"Please, no! I'm begging you, don't kill me!"

Shadow stared at the man's terrified expression with no compassion. He fought against his natural instinct to pulverize the man; to make sure he didn't see the light of day again.

"Don't pull that crap on me," he said in a terrifyingly low voice, "I'll show you no mercy for your actions, like you were going to do to this girl who did nothing to you."

"Honest, I didn't mean to!" the man protested, tears streaming down his face, "I—I'm sorry!"

As the soldier sobbed hysterically, Shadow continued to heavily breathe through his bared teeth, battling between two decisions—get the human to hell, or spare him. Even though it was difficult, Shadow chose the better of the options with reluctance.

"You're damn lucky I don't kill you now," Shadow whispered threateningly, "stay here or you'll be guaranteed a one-way ticket to hell."

On that dangerous note, Shadow threw the man to the ground against the base of a tree trunk, in partial hopes that he'd get knocked out. Without turning back, the black and red hedgehog ran to Agatha, who was still unconscious on the grass. Even in the dark, Shadow could see the grass around her getting darker with blood from her wound.

"Oh, hell, no . . ." he whispered, "not you, too . . ."

Shadow knelt down and turned Agatha's body over to check for a pulse. Through his remaining rage and—could it be?—grief, Shadow had a hard time making out the heartbeat. The memories flowed back, this time freely and without the hedgehog fighting them back.

For the first time since he had last seen Maria, tears formed in the hedgehog's blood-red eyes.


	23. Chapter 23

**A/N: To the general audience, I'd like to apologize for keeping a lot of focus on Shadow. I bet you've already guessed who my number one favorite STH character is, right? Riiight. ;)**

**To ABCSKW: I listened to the song, but it only worked well for the last bit of this chapter. However, I will be doing the same with the next few chapters and I'm thinking it'll work better for more climactic scenes. So I'll keep it going for you! :)**

**Enjoy! :)**

* * *

"I heard it!" Knuckles insisted as Rouge tried not to fall back asleep, "Something happened here, I swear!"

"Now, sweetheart, you're probably just having nightmares," Rouge said calmly with a yawn, "if I didn't hear a scream, then nobody could have."

"Then where's Shadow?" Knuckles challenged, "he'd have some insight on this."

Omega turned his mechanical body.

"Shadow is approaching now," he stated monotonously.

And he was. The dark figure stepped quietly towards the little group, his head down in what appeared to be his normal deep thought.

"Shadow, please tell this delusional echidna that there's nothing wrong," Rouge said, irritated and cranky that she had been woken up for "no reason".

Shadow walked slowly and didn't say anything. Upon closer inspection, Rouge, Knuckles, and Omega noticed that he looked as though he had something in his arms. Rouge observed him with more uneasiness. "Shadow?"

"Ha! There's got to be something wrong if he's not talking!" Knuckles exclaimed triumphantly, ignoring Rouge's exaggerated eye roll. He ran to Shadow to ask him what the matter was.

Knuckles stopped suddenly as he realized what—or who—Shadow was holding.

"Is that . . ." he started, staring into Shadow's arms.

Shadow shook his head and closed his eyes.

"Yes, it's Agatha," he said shortly, practically muttering under his breath, "that guard that we held captive in the house got her and I tried to stop him, but he hurt her before I got the chance to reach her."

Rouge, Knuckles, and Omega looked at Shadow's full arms in shocked silence. Knuckles was the first to react, uttering something that sounded like,

"What happened to her?"

Shadow quietly described the horrific incident as Rouge and Knuckles listened. Knuckles stared at the ground and bared his teeth, similarly to Shadow's furious expressions. Rouge crossed her arms and tried not to appear fazed by the incident, although it was difficult. When Shadow was finished, Rouge went up to the hedgehog and felt the girl's wrist for a pulse and to see if her chest was rising and falling. When her ears perked up, Shadow and Knuckles breathed out in relief.

"She's alive," the bat confirmed, "but my question is, how do we tell Mrs. Charis?"

Silence. Everyone's mind turned to the image of a wailing mother and her terrible cries of despair. Knuckles shuddered at the thought.

"We can't; it'd tear her apart," he said with a broken voice, "we might have to take care of her here."

Rouge fluffed out her hair, hoping to mask her own internal distress.

"We could do that, and then just ask her dad to take care of her," she suggested.

Shadow shrugged, still gently cradling the girl in his arms.

"I suppose that would work, but Peter is asleep. When do we tell him?"

Knuckles snapped his head up in realization.

"Guys, we have to tell Sonic, too!"

Team Dark stared at the only Team Sonic member that was present. All of them, besides Knuckles, was reluctant about the idea, but they also didn't disagree with it.

Rouge nodded her head slowly.

"Yeah, probably."

With nobody disapproving of the idea, Knuckles ran off through the grass and to the other side of the house to wake up his buddy and tell him the tragic news.

* * *

"It's serious! I'm not kidding you!"

Sonic stretched and yawned widely, looking at the sleeping Charises. Gabriel had fallen asleep, being a teenage boy, and couldn't quite remain awake for the entire night shift. After all, he needed his sleep. The blue hedgehog stood up slowly and repeated the situation that Knuckles had just explained.

"So . . . the soldier that we had trapped in the house . . . he—he stabbed Agatha after kidnapping her?"

"After Shadow tried to reason with him," Knuckles pointed out, "which I thought was weird."

Sonic started walking to the other side of the house as Knuckles jabbered on about the injustice of the event, obviously unable to contain his anger. "That stupid human! Thinking he could get away with trying to murder a good friend who hasn't done anything to him or anyone else! They've got reason to hate us, but how can they possibly blame innocent girls for wrongdoings?"

"Slow it down, Knucklehead!" Sonic said, trying to persuade Knuckles to relax, "just take it easy. How bad of a condition is she in?"

Team Dark was walking towards the duo, Shadow in the front, and the others on either side.

"She's in pretty bad shape," Shadow muttered bitterly.

Sonic did the best he could as far as looking over the girl's body in the dark. He noticed the blood dripping from between Shadow's gloved fingers underneath the girl's back. After inspecting her body, the blue hedgehog gritted his teeth.

"Where's that guy?" he asked suddenly and angrily.

"And Omega . . . ?" Rouge inquired in addition, realizing that the robot was missing.

Everyone turned around and looked at the tree trunk, where the soldier started laughing madly and Omega's eyes blazed red as he took something from the guard's hands and crushed it. Sonic, Rouge, and Knuckles ran over to join Omega, while Shadow stood bewildered, unsure of what to do with Agatha. As a final resort, he carefully placed the unconscious girl on the grass by the wall of the house, praying that no one would step on her.

"Omega, what did you do?" Rouge asked frantically as the man still laughed.

"No, what did_ he_ do?" Sonic countered as he pointed at the laughing soldier, "why are you laughing, wise guy?"

The man gazed at Sonic and his friends with a drunken stare.

"He's coming . . ." he said between laughs, "he'll be here tomorrow . . ."

Sonic grabbed the soldier's shoulders and shook him.

"Who'll be here?" he demanded.

"The greatest being . . . of all time! Dictator Edric! Ha . . . ha . . ."

Sonic dropped the man's torso and backed away, his eyes wide with disbelief.

"No . . . that's impossible," he stated, still not accepting this news. Everyone else was speechless.

"Well, believe it, Mobian scum! He'll be here to arrest everyone! I've done it . . . I've done well . . . he said so!"

Knuckles, Rouge, Shadow, and Sonic exchanged glances of panic, worry, and for some, fear. Shadow turned to Omega.

"What did you take from him?"

Omega, in his claws, held up a device that had been crushed, and was reduced to a pile of metal pieces and wires.

"This is a communication device. I heard the human speaking quietly and I tried to reach him before he could reach their supreme leader. But I've failed."

Rouge, her eyes wide with anger, bitterly consoled the robot.

"Not your fault, big guy. It's a good thing you actually heard him; none of us did."

Sonic's mind raced as he realized the gravity of the turn of events. Agatha was down, and she wasn't even part of the fight. They had to take care of her, as well as face this dictator. What were they going to do? Where would they go?

The blue hedgehog buried his face in his hands.

"No, no, no . . ." he whispered, "this can't be happening . . ."

Team Dark simply walked away, leaving Sonic and Knuckles together.

Knuckles patted Sonic on the back.

"We can sort this out."

"Before the sun rises?" Sonic challenged, incredulous.

Knuckles was taken aback by this response and didn't reply back. Sonic stood up and began raging, in a rare fury.

"We've got a wounded human to take care of, and this dictator is coming to their house tomorrow! How are they going to evacuate in time? What do we tell the dictator? Why is everything so freaking difficult?!"

Sonic's outrage forced him to the ground in a kneeling position as he screamed in frustration. Knuckles, being a supportive friend and beginning to realize Sonic's trouble, took the hedgehog's hand and raised him back up.

"Sonic, you've had way too much pressure on yourself. Everyone thought that you were the only one who was supposed to be thinking about everything, when we really shoulda been helping you. I don't care what happens, but I'm part of Team Sonic, and I'm not going to leave this decision to you."

Sonic stared at the echidna, who beamed at him in reply and flashed a thumbs-up. The hedgehog gave his friend a half-smile and suddenly changed his attitude.

"Knucklehead, how would I manage without ya?"

The pair bumped fists and headed back to their station, discussing plans for the next day.


	24. Chapter 24

In a small shed in the backyard, Knuckles and Shadow held the arms of Peter Charis as he tried to bolt out the door and find the soldier who attacked his daughter. Rouge stood in the doorway, merely shaking her head with pity. The man screamed and helplessly tried to break free of the Mobians' grips, but neither of them were letting him go.

"Take it easy, Mr. Charis," Shadow growled, trying to calm the man down, "you shouldn't waste your time trying to get to him!"

"Mr. Charis, wouldn't it be better just to be with your daughter?" Knuckles asked through gritted teeth as he gripped the poor father's arm, "we'll take care of the guy!"

Mr. Charis fell to the ground and started weeping. His eyes teared up and dripped like a fountain of mourning.

"Agatha, my child . . ." he whispered as he approached the little cot that his daughter rested on, "oh, my daughter!"

Agatha lay motionless, yet still alive, on the blue cot. Peter had patched up her wound with multiple bandages and special ointment taken from the first aid kit he brought outside on day one. Agatha's hair flowed on the pillow behind her, displaying the bloodstained strands of black wavy locks.

Peter continued to cry. Shadow crossed his arms in reply, trying not to look at the stony face of the girl. Rouge didn't look over her shoulder and she said nothing.

Knuckles shuffled around the floor, scraping his shoes anxiously.

"Mr. Charis . . ." he began uneasily, "you might want to carry her inside."

The weeping father took his reddened face out of his hands and gave Knuckles a look of confusion.

"That is a good idea, but why do you say it like that?"

Shadow and Knuckles exchanged nervous glances. Shadow raised an eyebrow, prompting Knuckles to spit out his answer.

"Well . . . see, the . . . the dictator, he's . . ."

"He's coming here today," Shadow finished bluntly, glaring at the stuttering echidna.

Peter's eyes widened with sudden panic.

"What . . . today?!"

All three Mobians nodded gravely, including Rouge, who finally looked over her shoulder. Peter stared at the ground, his mouth agape, and then at Shadow, Knuckles, and Rouge. They all looked back at him with serious expressions. Peter, taken aback, backed up into the wall, panting as though he was losing his mind. He glanced at his unconscious daughter and her delicate face.

"My family isn't safe with that bastard here," he whispered shakily, "I'm going to take her inside. Oh, her poor mother will lose it . . ." Peter buried his face in his hands. "Who told him?" he muttered insanely, "who told him to come here?"

Baffled, Shadow, Knuckles, and Rouge all shook their heads, each one rapidly trying to avoid blame.

"The same guy who attacked Agatha," Rouge said quietly, "he called in backup and they're not only bringing backup, but the freaking dictator himself decided to show up."

Peter Charis' mind spun with fears and troubles as he stroked his daughter's crusted and bloody hair.

"Ohh, she can't stay out here . . ." Peter moaned, becoming suddenly dizzy and overwhelmed, "We need to get her inside . . ."

Mr. Charis walked aimlessly around the shed, bumping into things and eventually giving the impression that he was about to topple over. Shadow ran to catch him, and did so successfully. Peter stood erect again, with the help of the black and red hedgehog.

"Take it easy," Shadow mumbled as he steadied the man, "steady, now."

Shadow turned to his companions as Mr. Charis clutched the cot, holding himself up.

"He's in a state of shock," Shadow explained as he realized what was happening to the man, "and I think they need to get inside, all of them. Not just Agatha, but Peter and Gabriel as well."

"Why? Gabriel can be a good resource for us. And besides, he's the only one who doesn't have any sort of . . . ailment," Rouge pointed out.

"While that is true, you realize he's just a kid," Knuckles countered, "he's not used to this . . . fighting atmosphere like we are. No one here seems to be."

"No wonder he makes a poor soldier," Shadow remarked cruelly, "the kid hasn't had any fighting experience. It's pathetic."

"It's part of their lives, Shadow!" Knuckles exclaimed defensively, his face turning hot with anger, "and you need to be more compassionate about that!"

Shadow and Rouge looked blankly at Knuckles. The red echidna gave up in trying to convince the dark hedgehog and curled his fists.

"Forget it!" he growled, "Fine! Let's just get these two in the house before something happens."

Silently agreeing, Shadow and Rouge helped Knuckles to get the badly shaken man and the girl on the cot into the house.

* * *

"But, Sonic-"

"No! Tails, you need to get inside! It's too dangerous out here for you!"

Tails had snuck out of the back door while Mrs. Charis was coming down the stairs and getting ready for breakfast. He kept a childish indignation as he argued with his "big brother" about staying outside.

"But you know I can help!" he protested, "I've done this all before, you know that!"

Sonic pursed his lips together and took Tails' shoulders.

"Tails, don't you remember what I asked you to do? I asked you to take care of the girls. Aren't you going to do what I asked?"

Tails carefully tried to word his answer. He opened his mouth, and then closed it, and then frowned at the grass beneath his feet.

"Sonic, I . . . I'm sorry. I miss you; it's lonely in there being the only boy besides a little baby."

"I understand, lil' brother," Sonic said, ruffling the fur on Tails' head, "but you're better off inside. There's too many risks out here, and I don't want to see you getting hurt."

The thudding of Omega's pounding feet came, and the hulking robot approached Sonic from his spot at the side of the house.

"Sonic the Hedgehog . . ." he stated monotonously, "my sensors are indicating vibrations that are quickly approaching."

Sonic looked up into the sky and perked up his ears as he heard the faintest sound of helicopter blades ripping through the air. He looked all around the sky for a sign of the vehicle, but he couldn't see it anywhere.

"Sonic, what's happening?" Tails inquired with more childish curiosity than worry.

The hedgehog grabbed Tails' arm.

"Tails, you need to go back into the house and warn the girls. Tell them to get in the basement, and don't let them come out."

"But why?"

"Never mind, Tails! Get inside and tell them!"

Before the fox had any time to protest, the sound of the helicopter grew very loud and close. Startled by the sudden change, Tails gave Sonic a final look of fear, not for himself, but for his big brother. Sonic winked and pulled the tiny fox into a hug.

As Tails ran inside and locked the door, Team Dark and Knuckles joined Sonic in the yard, all gazing at the sky and trying to determine where the sound was coming from.

"Where is it?" Knuckles cried out over the sound.

"Over there!" Sonic replied, pointing at the sky above the forest.

The sound of the blades came so close that Sonic, Knuckles, and Rouge covered their ears. The black vehicle emerged from over the trees, too close for any sort of comfort. It was in that moment of wonder that it came to a stop in the sky.

"What's it doing?" Sonic called. Omega's deep voice boomed,

"The door is opening."

Indeed, the door on the side was beginning to slide open slowly. Two men on either side of the door lowered a rope ladder to the ground, and the figure of a man, to whom the workers saluted, appeared in the opening.

"That must be him," Sonic thought to himself.

The man descended down the rope ladder's rungs, followed by a group of soldiers, all dressed in black. Sonic and his friends waited a painful five minutes before they could no longer see the man and his minions.

When nothing happened, Team Dark instantly went into their fighting formation, readying themselves for battle. Sonic and Knuckles looked into the trees, hoping to see the man stepping out.

"The suspense," Rouge remarked drily.

Suddenly, the sound of a thousand guns cocking erupted from the woods. Soldiers dressed in black surrounded the Mobians from every angle, some pointing guns, and the others taking their arms and dragging them backwards.

"Hey!"

"Let go!"

"Get off me!"

Four men grabbed Omega and tried to keep him under control. It's not very easy to contain a robot of Omega's size and strength, though.

Once every Mobian had been restrained, the soldiers that surrounded the Mobians parted to let a man walk through—the dictator, Edric, stepped forward.

"So we finally meet," Sonic said with a pained grin, "Dictator Edric."

Edric, in his long black trench coat, bowed deeply. He seemed young and had an air about him that suggested power and dominance.

"Sonic the Hedgehog, what a pleasure. I've heard so much about you," he said in a low and menacing voice.

Sonic kept his heroic smile on his face, refusing to wipe it off.

"Have you, now?" he inquired.

"I have, indeed. You're quite the figure of infamy these days. You and your . . . friends," he replied, gesturing to the others.

"We've certainly got a reputation to uphold," Sonic commented casually.

Without looking back, Sonic could already tell his friends behind him were snarling at him for his witty comeback.

"Now, then, Sonic the Hedgehog," the dictator said, snapping his fingers, "I have some business to settle with you."

As the man snapped his fingers, the soldiers led the other Mobians to the woods, where the helicopter had landed. They all looked at each other, nodding and understanding that they had to remain calm . . . for now.

* * *

"That's an impossible bargain, buddy," Sonic protested calmly, "I can't help you there."

The dictator watched as one of the soldiers struck Sonic.

"Personally, I don't think you're being truthful. There must be something you can do."

Sonic rubbed his head.

"Believe me, pal, I can't help you harness the power of Chaos Energy. It's too powerful, and I've been working on the same thing for months. We've got none of the right resources."

Edric glared down at the hedgehog, who stared gravely back. Neither of them spoke for a few seconds, and then the dictator pulled a pistol from his pocket and aimed it at the hedgehog.

"I'll give you another chance, Mobian. Tell me the secret to the Chaos Energy."

Sonic glared at the ground, pondering the offer. He knew which answer was right, and he was about to blurt it out, when the sounds of shouting and loud booms came from the woods. While Sonic and Edric glanced at the trees, a red figure came practically flying out, his fists ready for delivering a blow. Yelling, he ran straight for Edric, who didn't hesitate to whip his pistol arm around and pull the trigger.

"Knuckles!" Sonic cried as the echidna fell to the ground.

Team Dark emerged from the woods in almost the same manner as Knuckles, and they charged at the surrounding soldiers.

When Rouge saw Sonic kneeling next to Knuckles, she widened her eyes.

"No!" she screamed as she ran to the wounded echidna, "Knuckles, hon, talk to me!"

Knuckles opened his eyes and gritted his teeth.

"I'm fine . . . he only got my leg . . ."

Rouge examined Knuckles' bleeding leg and shivered.

"You gonna be okay, hon?" she asked nervously.

Knuckles looked at Rouge's face, and then at Sonic's.

"I'll be fine. You guys take down the bastard and give him what he deserves."

Knuckles let out a slight groan and then passed out, slowly fading into a blackness, though still alive. Rouge and Sonic exchanged glances, and then nodded at each other and got up, ready to fight with Shadow and Omega.


	25. Chapter 25

**A/N: So, here it is-the big battle. If you've been following this story and actually persevered enough to read up to this point, I applaud you. I'll warn you now: this is a long chapter. Thank you and enjoy! **

* * *

Tails, Amy, and Cream looked out of an upstairs window at the chaos below. There was some Chaos mixed in with the overall chaos as Shadow exploded with the mystic energy and sent the soldiers in black flying backwards. Tails frantically searched for Sonic, who was speeding around and became a blue blur in the midst of the flood of black. Amy looked around for him, too, her eyes filling with tears and her mouth open with a terrified expression.

Cream and Cheese averted their eyes whenever a blow landed on someone. Both of them seemed too innocent to be watching. Tails turned to the whimpering rabbit and her pet chao and whispered,

"Cream, you should go downstairs with Mrs. Charis. Why don't you head to the basement?"

Cream, with her eyes closed, whispered shakily,

"No! I . . . I don't want to leave you guys alone!"

Tails and Amy uneasily looked at each other. Amy swung her mallet over her shoulders and put on a fierce expression.

"Cream, you ought to stay here. I'm going out to help Sonic!"

Tails and Cream both protested, but only just as Amy bolted down the stairs and suddenly appeared on the battlefield in a pink flash.

Tails' eyes darted around wildly as he watched the big battle unfolding. He suddenly caught a glance of a red figure lying on the ground. It was undoubtedly Knuckles, wounded and unconscious. Tails young eyes became wet with tears as he saw his friend hurt. Cream followed the fox's gaze, also seeing Knuckles on the ground.

A look of determination and indignation flashed in Tails' eyes.

"I'm going out there, too, Cream."

Cream shook her head and took Tails' hands in her own.

"No! I don't want anyone else getting hurt!"

"Cream, don't worry about me! I'm going to be fine."

The little rabbit broke down and started to cry. Cheese let out a short and sad,

"Chao chaooo . . ."

The fox hugged Cream, and then ran off down the stairs and past Mrs. Charis, who began to hysterically yell after him, but it was too late. The fox had made up his mind and was going to fight with his big brother.

* * *

Meanwhile, Rouge and Amy stayed near Knuckles and made sure that no one would come by him in his state of weakness. Rouge's Screw Kicks and Spin Jumps proved to be very effective against the soldiers who had the intentions of taking away Knuckles. Amy, as expected, resorted to using her most powerful weapon—her hammer.

"C'mon, fellas, you can do better than this!" the bat said as she looked triumphantly over a small group of men who were lying on the ground, groaning in pain. Rouge stuck out her hip and crossed her arms. "You know you don't stand a chance against us."

The men seemed too tired to get up. Still completely alert, the bat fought off more men that were coming at other angles, taunting them with her charming and witty voice.

"Well, look who it is!" she cried as a little orange figure flew towards her. "It's awfully dangerous out here, buddy, you better watch it."

"Tails! You've come to join us!" Amy squealed gleefully, contrasting the "hii-yaahh!" that she had previously screamed as the Piko-Piko Hammer whirled around.

"I've dealt with worse," Tails said as he slashed his tails around and knocked a man off-balance.

"Well, good for you, kiddo," the bat said as she crouched to avoid a charging soldier, "rebelling every once in while isn't so hard, is it?"

Tails barely heard what she said. He was too focused on Knuckles, who was beginning to stand up shakily on his bad leg.

"Knuckles, you're okay!" he squealed. Knuckles let out a chuckle.

"I'm fine, I'm fine," he said gruffly, "now, can I join you guys in kicking butt?"

* * *

On the other side of the house, Sonic, Shadow, Omega, and Gabriel brawled with the troops. Shadow let off bursts of Chaos Energy frequently with shouts of effort, crying out,

"Chaos Spear! Chaos Control!"

His voice boomed as loudly as Omega's Machine Gunner move. Omega's vengeful nature took over completely, bringing him to shake off the men that attempted to jump on top of him to try and contain him.

"You humans are pathetic," he said, "and I am the Ultimate E-Series robot."

The robot spurted fire from his arms, mainly to frighten the soldiers in front of him, and then, coming nearer to Shadow, nodded at him. Together, the duo let off a Chaos Inferno to blast the men backwards.

Shadow smiled and punched the robot in the side as a sort of affectionate gesture. Omega did the same, but knocked the hedgehog flat on the concrete driveway. Laughing, the black and red hedgehog continued to use his Chaos Energy to attack the charging men, while Omega kept using his own fire attacks and machine gunner moves to keep the soldiers back.

Sonic and Gabriel were behind Shadow and Omega, closer to the backyard. Sonic double spin-jumped into a soldier that aimed a gun at him. The man yelled in surprise as the hedgehog knocked his gun right from his hands. Gabriel had no longer been using his little bebe gun, but now used his own bare hands. Considering the boy's size and strength, not to mention his anger for what they had done to his little sister, Gabriel was proving himself useful when it came to keeping the men back. Sonic, after performing a homing attack, glanced over at the boy. He was holding up pretty well, and even shouted at the men.

"This is for Agatha!" he would scream as a man grabbed his arm. He would bring the man down to the ground, wrestling him until the gun was clean out of his hands and then throwing it out of sight.

Sonic turned away from Gabriel as he ran around a man came running towards him, thus confusing him. As he fought, Sonic searched for the dictator, who had suddenly disappeared as soon as his men had begun the war. Edric, unknown to anyone, was behind the house, smiling evilly as he could hear the sounds of fighting. He removed his small pistol from his inside pocket and emerged from behind the house while Sonic's back was turned. Sonic moved quickly, thus making him a more difficult target to hit. Edric cursed multiple times as Sonic jumped out of the pistol's range, and then back again.

The only one to notice the dictator with his gun was Shadow. Shadow watched as Sonic suddenly fell after a man knocked him off-balance. The blue hedgehog rubbed his head, dazed. Edric crept closer to him, cocking his gun. Shadow, seeing what had to be done, bellowed,

"_No!_"

He ran in front of the evil man just as the bullet exited the device. As if in slow motion, the black hedgehog turned his head and closed his eyes, accepting the bullet and allowing Sonic to move quickly out of the way. Shadow fell hard with a scream as the bullet pierced the back of his head through the spikes. Gritting his teeth, the hedgehog remained on the ground and dropped the Chaos Emerald he had been using.

Gabriel noticed before Sonic that Shadow was down.

"Sonic, look!"

The blue hedgehog whirled around to see that Shadow was on the ground, inhaling and exhaling slowly. Sonic widened his eyes.

"Shads!"

"Don't call me that, you little blue bastard!" Shadow cried in response, "take the damn Emerald and use your own Chaos Control! Finish this now!"

Sonic ran to his friend and stared at the Chaos Emerald and then back at Shadow. He gazed out at the crowd of black and the spots of color that bravely fought them.

"I'm not going to."

Shadow, still panting, curled his fists and clenched his teeth angrily.

"I swear, faker, if you don't do this-"

"Shads, I'm not going super. It's not necessary at this point; I'm going to fight with the others. It would be too selfish for me to go super when no one else has that advantage."

Unclear and in a total rage, Shadow roared and stood up slowly as Sonic ran off with Gabriel and continued fighting normally. As he looked back to grab his Emerald, he realized it was no longer there.

A laugh came from the side of the house. Edric held the Emerald and caressed it, trying to feel the power it contained.

"At last, I've got one!" he exclaimed triumphantly. Shadow growled and walked towards the man with a look of murder in his eyes.

"Don't even try," he snarled, "you won't be able to control it."

Edric sneered at Shadow and pointed his gun at him.

"I'll shoot you again," he threatened, "let me do what I was called to do."

"I said don't do it!" Shadow cried desperately as the man lifted the Emerald into the air. When the words "Chaos Control" escaped the lips of the power-hungry man, the sky almost instantly became overcast in purple. The fighting stopped briefly as everyone gazed at the purple lightning clouds that swirled from the sky.

* * *

Gabriel stopped wrestling a man to glance at the sky, when the man knocked him over and aimed a machine gun at him. From inside the house, Mrs. Charis had run up from the basement after hearing loud booms of what sounded like thunder. Before running up the stairs, Mrs. Charis gently placed the twins in her husband's arms. Looking out of a window, the first thing the mother spotted was the sight of her son about to be shot. She ran outside, screaming,

"Gabriel!"

Startled by the cry, both the man and Gabriel looked at the garage as Mrs. Charis charged out and tackled the man.

"Mom?!"

The woman got up and hugged her son, weeping and staring at the sky.

"Oh, my son! Oh, Gabriel, what's happening?"

* * *

All of the Mobians had stopped their fighting to see the purple Chaos tornado being formed behind the house. All of them froze in their tracks and stared in horror.

Sonic glared at the man and watched as he laughed insanely.

"Not on my watch," he muttered. "Guys, let's show this guy what we Mobians can do!"

Everyone, except for Shadow, charged at the man with their own power, trying to remove the Chaos Emerald from his hands. Edric grinned and watched as his limbs started to glow with a green tint. He lifted into the air.

"This power is wonderful!" he cried, "Soon you'll all be bowing to me!"

Sonic watched as the man absorbed the purple tornado through his body.

"He's going to burst from all that energy!" Knuckles shouted.

"Stop if you want to live!" Rouge yelled.

"Throw the Emerald here and you won't get hurt!" Amy screamed. Sonic suddenly had a thought among the noise.

"I thought that Emerald was fake?!"

The Mobians stopped their screaming to absorb what the hedgehog had just said. Everyone glanced at Sonic, and then started to scream again, this time more urgently; pleading with the man.

"Put it down!"

"Call it off!"

"Stop! Stop!"

Edric laughed. He laughed madly, until a sudden pulse of Chaos Energy shook the ground. Shadow, Knuckles, Sonic, and Edric violently screamed as if they had all been simultaneously shot by a cannon. The tornado disappeared almost instantly, and then the Emerald blasted another pulse.

"Shadow, call it off!" Sonic cried out, knowing his own grasp of the Energy wasn't as great as Shadow's.

The black hedgehog groaned, and through bared teeth, mumbled,

"_Chaos . . . Control!_"

The Emerald dropped to the ground and sent out another pulse. Edric, being the only one who wasn't used to the Energy, collapsed and clutched his head.

"What's happening?!" he yelled. Sonic ran to the man and stared down at him.

"Since you don't know how to control Chaos Energy, you've just released so much that it's overwhelming your body! You're bringing on your own self-destruction!"

"No, no! Make it stop, make it stop!"

"It's too late! We can't stop the energy from taking over you!"

Edric screamed again in defeat, and the Mobians huddled together as he was overwhelmed by a white light. The light surrounded his body and blinded the Mobians; most of them shielded their eyes. Edric, still screaming in pain, became bright green, and disappeared in a flash of purple light. A final Chaos Pulse sent the Mobians reeling backwards. Sonic called his friends in a huddle, and they all clung to one another as the final pulse ended.

The pulse faded, and the Emerald rested on the ground. The sky turned blue again, spotted with puffy clouds.

Everyone stared at each other in disbelief. They all glanced at the one next to them, and then across from them. Sonic smiled, and then laughed.

"Guys, we have not only defeated a threat to us and the planet Earth, but we've found a way home. There's no way that Emerald could have been fake."

Everyone stared at the ground, all in a potential state of shock. The blue hedgehog spoke up again.

"We're not just a team, you guys. We're a family. And without any of you contributing to this battle, I don't know what we'd do. I put my faith in all of you, and we won."

"We won," repeated Knuckles, "we won!"

The Mobians cheered and hugged and, in Rouge and Knuckles' case, kissed. Both of them immediately pulled away from each other after realizing what had just happened.

It was quite a victory for our heroes.

* * *

**A/N: Don't worry, it's not over juuust yet . . .**


	26. Chapter 26

**A/N: I'm not going to lie, I almost cried writing this final chapter. Don't judge. Honestly, though, it's been a great run, and I want to take a moment to thank everyone who read, reviewed, followed, and favorited this story. You guys are the best, and I'm so glad this story was worth reading to you. Now, without further ado, I present to you: the final chapter of "Bonds of Faith".**

**(Btw: ABCSonicKirbyWarriors, I hope you're pleasantly surprised. You'll know what I mean once you get there. ;) )**

* * *

Sonic took a swig from his water bottle after he felt his mouth going dry. He looked at all of his friends in the Charis house as the Charis family handed out their "good-bye" gifts to the Mobians. Gabriel gave each of the members of Team Sonic their presents. Sonic had received a recipe for Mrs. Charis' best chili for her chili dogs; the kind that he had enjoyed the most. Tails got a book about mechanical physics, and was totally engrossed in the words on the page as he lounged on a couch. Knuckles received a super-big, industrial-size package of cookies, which he started to munch on right after receiving it.

"Well, sport, I guess this is it," Sonic said to a sad-looking Gabriel Charis. Gabe gave him a smile.

"Yeah, buddy, I guess so," he replied, "thanks for the run, though."

"Hey, no problem!" Sonic said with a wink, "you're pretty tough, Gabe. Hold tight to your family. That's what I gotta say to ya."

Without a response, Gabriel pulled the blue hedgehog into a hug. Sonic accepted the hug with a good-hearted laugh.

* * *

On the roof outside of Agatha Charis' room, Team Dark sat alone, none of them willing to take part in the goodbye session. Shadow picked at a leaf, while Rouge dangled her legs from the rooftop and whistled. Omega simply stood there, thinking his own thoughts.

The door in Agatha's room opened slowly with a creak. Shadow, Rouge, and Omega all turned to see who it was. Sure enough, it was Agatha, who walked towards them with a slight stagger.

"Hello, hon," Rouge called, "how's your back?"

Agatha smiled.

"It's doing much better, Rouge. How's the wing?"

"All healed," the white bat fluttered her wings to prove that it was completely better. "Come to say goodbye to us, then?"

The girl nodded sadly.

"I'm afraid so. As much as you guys don't want to hear it, I'm here anyway."

Agatha went to her closet and opened it up, revealing a small plastic bag. She took the bag out and carefully stepped out onto the roof with the guidance of Shadow and Omega.

"Thanks, guys," she said gratefully. She started to dig through the bag and pulled out a small diamond ring, an mp3 player, and a dark blue metal fridge magnet in the shape of an "omega" symbol.

Rouge squealed when she saw the ring and immediately put it over her white glove.

"Oh, it's beautiful!" she exclaimed, "is it real?"

"Indeed it is," Agatha laughed, delighted by the fact that Rouge liked her gift. Next, she placed the magnet on Omega's other shoulder; the one that didn't already have the symbol on it. "Omega, I know you already have the symbol on your other arm, but the color dark blue stands for power. I figured it would suit you."

"I'm the most powerful E-Series robot," he stated, "blue is a nice color; I need more of it on me. Thank you."

Omega suddenly pulled Agatha into a gentle robot-hug, which he had been working on. Agatha, surprised by the gesture, hugged him back, despite the pain in her back. She didn't care about it; being hugged by a robot must have some pretty intense meaning, and she didn't want to miss that. Finally, after the short hug from the robot, Agatha handed Shadow the mp3 player.

Shadow inspected the small device, and then gave Agatha a puzzled expression.

"What's this for?" he asked. Agatha turned it on and stuck an earbud into the hedgehog's ear. She opened up a playlist and started playing a song called, "Going Under". After listening to it for a few seconds, Shadow raised his eyebrows, impressed by the music choice. He took the earbud out of his ear. "Not a bad song," he commented, "but what purpose do you have in giving this to me?"

"Well, Shadow, since you're always so deep in thought, I figured some music might help you to think. Music is great for going deep into your mind and just relaxing a bit."

At first, the dark hedgehog didn't know how to respond. He simply pursed his lips, trying to think of something to say. When words failed him and there was a short silence, Agatha gave him a sympathetic look.

"I was going to give you a hug, but you don't have to if you don't want-"

Shadow wrapped his arms around the girl's waist, without a word. Agatha gasped and blushed.

"-to."

The girl bent down and returned the hug with tears in her eyes.

* * *

Mrs. Charis presented a small stuffed kitten that she made herself to Cream.

"Oh, it's so cute!" the little rabbit exclaimed gleefully, hugging her new toy, "I'm going to name it Buttercup!"

The woman laughed softly and ruffled the fur on Cream's head.

"And this is for Cheese," she said, handing a small piece of chocolate to the happy Chao.

"Chao chao chao!"

"Thank you so much, Mrs. Charis!" Cream said, The smile on her face suddenly disappeared.

Mrs. Charis frowned in response.

"Honey, what's the matter?"

Cream's eyes grew large and watery. Her lips quivered as she tried to speak.

"I . . . I'm g-going to m-miss you!" she bawled, tears streaming down her face. "We've been here for so long, and now . . . n-now we'll never see you again!"

Mrs. Charis squeezed the rabbit, holding her close.

"Oh, Cream, I'll miss you too," she said with a watery smile, "but I want you to promise me something."

Cream sniffled and wiped tears from her eyes.

"W-what's that?"

Mrs. Charis took the rabbit's hands and closed them around the stuffed kitten.

"I want you to think of us whenever you see little Buttercup here, okay? That way, you'll have a part of this world with you."

Cream nodded and bit her bottom lip to stop it from trembling.

"O-okay, Mrs. Charis. I'll never, ever, ever let Buttercup out of my sight!"

The woman laughed soothingly and stood up.

"Now where's Amy?" she asked. Her question was answered as Amy appeared in the kitchen door.

"You called, ma'am?" the pink hedgehog replied, strutting into the kitchen merrily. Mrs. Charis produced a colorful gift bag, holding it out for Amy.

"Here. It's your parting gift," she explained.

Amy squealed with delight.

"Ooh, what is it?" she asked in awe as she tore the paper from the bag. Once she finished shredding the paper up, Amy pulled the gift from the bottom of the bag. "Ohh!" she gasped.

The gift was a short lavender dress, made by Mrs. Charis herself. The dress was a similar style as the one that Amy was currently wearing(the red with white trim), except that it had an embroidered design going up the side of pink and red roses.

"It's so beautiful!" Amy sighed dreamily, "I don't know what to say! Thank you!"

Mrs. Charis laughed and hugged the two girls, unable to say anything. She was so happy that they enjoyed their gifts, and that meant the world to the kind woman.

* * *

"Chaos Portal!" Shadow cried, thrusting his hands towards the side of the lawn. A large green mass of swirling energy appeared, growing large enough to fit one Mobian at a time to walk through. The entire Charis family stood by the garage, watching as Sonic and his friends waved and yelled their final goodbyes and thank you's. The Charises waved back and simply observed, some with tears in their eyes, as the Mobians each stepped through the massive swirl of energy, one by one. The last one to enter was Sonic. Hesitantly, he took one more look at the family, and said,

"Don't forget us!"

With those final words, he disappeared into the portal, and the green energy vanished directly after. Each of the Mobians might have moved on since then, but never once have they thought of forgetting the Charis family.


End file.
